Head Over Hooves
by MilkSapphire
Summary: Gabrielle finds herself in a difficult situation when an unexpected woman comes into Xena's life.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this at the beginning of the year and waited for the right time to post this. I need something humorous for a change lol. Enjoy and good luck.**

Chapter One

Ares overlooked his army on the battlefield in the small but powerful, city of Marathon just outside of Athens. He nervously bit his fingernails anticipating the blow that his sister was about to cast down onto his army. To spite Athena, he employed a warlord in Marathon to ransack the outskirts of Athens. This was more than a simple battle to him. This was about sibling rivalry and he always thought Athena was better liked by Zeus than he ever could be which angered him to no end.

He wouldn't allow her to win yet again with her army of fierce women. She did have a greater number of soldiers but numbers weren't everything. It was all about strategy, although Athena was the queen of strategy and wisdom. The war god cursed himself for allowing such idiotic warriors to be beneath him in this battle.

As he stood on a hillside observing the battle he witnessed over two dozen of his men blown to smithereens by Athena's warriors and their blasted fire brigade and catapults. He growled and clenched his fists.

"Looks like you could use some help," a familiar voice spoke behind him.

Ares looked up at the blue sky and turned around to see the irritating sorceress sitting on a tree branch with one of her legs propped up, revealing her succulent thigh and lengthy leg. His eyes lingered and she tapped his nose with her scepter to snap him out of his lovesick stare.

"What are you doing here, Circe?" he asked and crossed his arms.

"Watching your ass getting handed to you by your better half," she said with a charming smile and flipped her long hair behind her shoulder and swung her dangling leg back and forth playfully. "Maybe Athena will take your mantle as the god of war. Wouldn't that be fun to see?"

He groaned and turned around, watching the battle unfold before him. He had never seen such a bunch of oafs in his entire life of being a warrior and god. He was disgusted with these men and the thought of his sister's warrior women obliterating his army only infuriated him even more.

"Don't you have something better to do with yourself than watch me crumble?" he hissed.

Circe sighed and hopped down off the tree and whacked him in the back of his head and he grunted, rubbing the sore spot. "You know why I am here, Ares."

He pretended that she was not standing right behind him and tried to keep focus. Another one of his fleets was knocked out by Athena's female soldiers and he growled, lifting his arm in the air out of frustration. Circe stepped in front of him to distract him from Athena's wiles.

"Circe, I am busy here."

"Ares, you promised," she warned and gripped the scepter. He eyed her briefly and then looked over her head at the bloody battlefield. Athena must be having fun with this, he thought. "Ares pay attention to me!"

Her hand glowed bright red and she slapped his cheek and he hissed, backing away from her. He held his burning cheek and it felt like he had been hit with hot coals. "What do you want?!" he yelled and wagged his aching hand.

"Now that I have your attention, you promised you would take Damian. It is your turn to watch him," she said and sauntered over to the fearsome war god.

He frowned down at her and rolled his eyes. "Can't you see that I'm a little busy at the moment?"

Infuriated with his lack of care, she turned around and waved her scepter, casting a spell over the battlefield. Ares ran to her side and his eyes widened in horror when he saw all of Athena's warriors turned into various types of birds; chickens, ducks, doves, falcons, hawks.

"There. Now you're not busy," she smiled from ear to ear. She tapped her finger against his chest. "You are taking Damian. I am not going to come here again."

His jaw dropped and he furiously whipped his head around to the satisfied sorceress. "You just turned Athena's warriors into…poultry!"

"Now it is a sure thing that you will win!" she shrugged her shoulder. "Have fun. I have other business to take care of. I will drop Damian off at your temple." She waved and vanished. He slapped his forehead and shook his head, watching his men stare at the army of birds running around them, clucking and squawking.

"_ARES!"_ Athena's voice boomed throughout the sky and he sighed heavily.

* * *

Gabrielle walked beside Argo while Xena led the way through the grassy planes of a small village nearby Delphi. She looked at Argo's big brown eyes and frowned at the animal. Over the last few weeks the two hadn't been getting along as well as they normally were. She tried to hide the animosity towards Argo from Xena but it was getting to a point where Gabrielle was barely able to cope with the stubborn horse.

Xena pointed ahead at the village. "There it is. We should find the town magistrate and find out exactly what's been going on here."

Gabrielle kept eyeing Argo and Xena turned around from the lack of communication.

"Something wrong?" the warrior asked and the bard snapped her head forward and smiled falsely.

"No, nothing wrong. So, the village huh?" she skipped ahead to walk alongside Xena. She heard Argo neigh behind her and scowled, ignoring the horse's snide comments. "Why exactly are we going to this village again?"

"The wives are concerned about their husbands disappearing in the late hours of the night. Remember we got that letter from a messenger in Thebes?"

Gabrielle nodded. "Oh right, _that_ letter. What do you think it could be? Poisoned water? Or just a bad case of infidelity running wild?" she chuckled.

Xena raised her eyebrow and shot a look to the blonde bard. "Ha-ha. Let's just find the magistrate and then we can troll around to find out more about these vanishing men." She wriggled her fingers and Gabrielle smirked.

The two strolled into the town and many of the women were standing outside their homes, gawking at them. Gabrielle looked around and never felt so uncomfortable before in her life until now. She did not really believe that letter that was delivered to her and Xena a couple of weeks ago, but now she was beginning to believe something was wrong here.

There were no men except for children, the elderly and possibly widowed spouses that lost their wives or unmarried men. She and Xena stopped at a tavern and Argo was left by a stable with a few other horses before they made their way over to the courthouse in the center of the village.

Entering the courthouse they saw an elderly man talking with a young boy probably no older than thirteen. He quickly dismissed the boy and approached the two warriors with a sad smile gracing his lips. "Xena," he greeted her and Gabrielle glanced around at the empty courthouse.

"We got a letter that men have been disappearing in this village. Any idea what is going on?" the warrior asked.

He sighed and sat down on one of the wooden benches. "This courthouse used to be filled with the finest scholars and men but they have gone. I don't know what is happening to this village. I've heard several other villages nearby are having the same problem."

Gabrielle looked up to Xena and approached the anxious man. "Are these men taking drugs or were they hypnotized by anyone?" she asked and he shook his head and grabbed a handkerchief from his robe pocket and dabbed his forehead.

"It's not like that. These are bright men and they just leave their wives in the dead of night. Some return and some don't. The women are beginning to believe there is a cult somewhere in the woods and they are recruiting their husbands."

Xena smirked almost to the point of laughing but she reminded herself this is a serious matter. "Can you give us any clues as to why they would leave so abruptly? They can't just walk out on their wives and children for no apparent reason."

"I'm sorry; I don't have anything to go off of for you Xena." He sadly admitted and wiped the sweat off his forehead again.

She nodded. "Alright, well Gabrielle and I will have a look around and see if we can find something. It was nice talking to you…"

"Klyde," he rose from the bench and shook her hand.

Xena smiled briefly. "Klyde. We'll make sure we can do whatever it takes to find out what happened to these men." She said and he gratefully thanked her and she nudged her head towards the door. "Let's go, Gabrielle."

* * *

Circe appeared standing by a tree and she saw the warrior and bard chatting away as they exited the courthouse. She smiled deviously and wagged her head, deciding the warrior's fate. "Oh Xena, you can't mess up my big plans."

She raised her scepter and pointed it directly at the warrior, aiming at her heart and a forceful hand grabbed her scepter just as she was about to fire. Grunting, she turned and saw the goddess of love. "Aphrodite, get out of my way!" she griped and the two played a game of tug of war with her scepter. "Let go you blonde whore!"

Aphrodite gasped and head butted the sorceress. Circe fumbled backwards and rammed her spine into the three. Aphrodite rubbed her forehead and moaned. "Ow…" she muttered.

The angry enchantress growled and pointed her scepter at the annoying blonde goddess. "That's it!" she charged for the love goddess and Aphrodite panicked. She thrust her scepter forward and the ornate ball at the end shined a bright blue light. "Get lost or I'll turn you into a pig."

"A pig?!" Aphrodite scoffed and folded her arms, feeling very insulted. "You couldn't turn me into a pretty animal like a silver fox or something?"

"How 'bout a snake instead," Circe crookedly smiled.

"That seems more like _your_ department, sweetie," Aphrodite retorted with a stoic face. She saw the sorceress' eyes illuminate a bright white and she nervously backed away. "No hard feelings of course."

Circe's eyes turned back to their supple brown and then whipped her body around, glaring at Xena and Gabrielle. "Stand back, dear." She closed an eye and powered up her scepter. "Snake it is for you, Xena," she whispered.

"No!" Aphrodite grabbed the scepter and Circe inhaled sharply and a blast cast from the scepter and completely missed Xena. "You leave them alone, you…you…you witch!"

The sorceress chuckled and kicked the goddess away and turned around with a big smile, hoping to see the warrior turn to a gorgon. Though, she was disappointed to see that Xena was still a human and intact but instead hit a blonde horse by a stable. "You moron!" she screeched at Aphrodite. "You made me miss!"

"Good," the love goddess brushed her hands across her arms, feeling quite proud of herself. "Stay away from my girls or I will hound you."

"You best stay out of my way or I'll turn you into a naked mole rat," Circe wagged her finger and with a wave of her hand she vanished. Aphrodite gasped and placed a hand over her chest.

"I would _so_ not make a cute naked mole rat." She shivered in disgust and snapped her fingers, making herself scarce.

* * *

By the stables, Circe's spell missed Xena, but cast directly onto Argo and the horse was an animal no more. She stood up shakily on her two new legs and gripped onto the stable pole for dear life. Breathing heavily, she looked down at herself and gasped. She stretched out her long tan arm and wriggled her fingers; her human fingers. Staring in awe she tapped her new fingers on the wooden pole and smiled. She looked around and saw her fellow horses next to her and reached out, touching their long manes. Never able to feel her own mane, she never realized how coarse the hair was or how soft it was.

Confused by her sudden change in appearance, she ran her fingers through hair –actual human hair. She grabbed the long blonde locks in her hands and contorted her face in bemusement. Her ears perked up when she heard her master's voice approaching and she gradually left the stables, grabbing onto everything possible to keep her balance.

Xena and Gabrielle made their way over to the stables, arguing mildly about the strange situation they were put in.

"Listen, I just think that we should search the woods. Maybe there is a cult around here," suggested Gabrielle.

"_Really_? A cult?" Xena said with disbelief and looked at the spot where she left her horse and frowned. "Where is Argo?" she panicked and picked up her saddlebag.

Gabrielle looked inside the stable to see if Argo had wandered off to gather with the other horses. "She's not in here."

"That's not like her to just take off," Xena said and looked behind the stable.

"Xena!" the human Argo called out and the warrior turned around at the sound of her name.

Gabrielle came out of the stables and her eyes widened at the naked blonde slender woman. Xena dropped the saddlebag in shock at the woman's appearance. "Gods," Gabrielle's mouth was left slightly agape. "Do you…know her?" she whispered.

"No…" Xena whispered back and the tall blonde ran towards her and grabbed her arms. Xena stiffened her body and stared down at the bare woman's body in front of her. Gabrielle slapped a hand over her own eyes.

The human Argo kept smiling and then eyed Gabrielle whom she liked to tease every now and then. "Xena, I was waiting for you!"

"Uh-huh," the warrior pried the arms off her. "Did you touch my horse?" she eyed the blonde suspiciously.

Argo frowned sadly. "I told you I was waiting for you."

Xena laughed nervously. "Right." Her eyes darted around still looking for her steed and sighed. "Who are you and where are your clothes?"

"Clothes?"

"Yeah, you might need some of those," commented Gabrielle with her eyes still covered.

Xena sighed and grabbed Argo's hand and hide her in the stables. "Wait here and Gabrielle and I will find you some clothes to put on. You can't be seen walking around like that."

Argo sighed and watched her master and the bard, walk off together whispering to each other. She sighed and rested her elbows on the stable ledge and stare at a big black stallion beside her. "Don't look at me like that. I told her that I was waiting for her. She doesn't believe me." She explained to the horse and he turned around, ignoring her. "Hey, was it something I said?"

She looked down at herself and lifted one of her knees. Two legs, she thought. Is this what it is like to be slow on your feet? Her hands roamed her body and she gasped. Her tail was gone. Her pride was gone. She wasn't exactly sure if she liked being a two legged creature and wasn't exactly sure why Xena was being so curt with her either.

Gabrielle and Xena returned with a long beige dress and Argo smiled upon her master's return. Xena was slightly taken aback by her grandeur smile. "Here, just put this on," she wagged the dress and Argo frowned at the piece of clothing, but took it anyway.

Xena turned around and waited for her to get dressed. Gabrielle was unable to look away and saw the mysterious woman was having trouble putting on the dress.

"Um, Xena, I don't think she knows what she's doing."

The warrior turned on her heel and saw the blonde struggling to put on the dress. "You've got to be kidding me," she grumbled and walked over to help her out. Argo struggled and then finally got her head through the hole and smiled at Xena.

"Thanks," she said and Xena nodded.

"So, where are you from?" Gabrielle asked.

Argo eyed the bard and clung close to Xena. "Everywhere of course! You two like to travel a lot like I do."

Xena sighed and grabbed Argo's hand leading her out of the stables. "We need to get you back home. My friend and I have work to do."

"Wait, wait! I want to come with you," Argo pleaded. "I like traveling," she said innocently and Gabrielle folded her arms and Xena gazed into the big brown eyes opposite her. "I can help! You'll need my help. I am very valuable, I promise."

"I think me and Gabrielle can manage on our own." She grabbed Argo's hand and began walking towards the village filled with other women. "We should really find your home and then we'll be on our way."

Argo gasped and pulled away from her master. "But I told you! I don't live here!"

Gabrielle sighed and crossed her arms, gawking at the tall blonde. "Then, where are you from?"

"I told you, everywhere, _Gabrielle_," Argo frowned and the bard raised her eyebrow not liking her tone.

"So, you're a nomad?" Xena asked confusedly.

"What's a nomad?" Argo cocked her head and Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "Why'd you make that face, Gabrielle? Was it something I said?"

The bard's cheeks reddened and she looked up at Xena for help but the warrior shrugged her shoulder. "Listen, you can't come with us," Xena finally said and pulled Argo along with her. "You're staying here until I figure out what to do with you."

"But I want to come! Why are you pushing me away?" Argo asked, batting her chocolate brown eyes.

Gabrielle rubbed the nape of her neck and tapped Xena's shoulder. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Xena left Argo alone and hoped she'd stay put. She walked over to a nearby tree with Gabrielle and folded her arms. "What?"

"She is like…obsessed with you. She wants to follow us and doesn't even know where she is from! We found her naked for Zeus' sake, Xena," she whispered.

The warrior looked back at the tall smiling blonde and shook her head. "Maybe she has amnesia or something?" she guessed and looked out at the field. "I can't believe Argo took off like that."

Gabrielle placed her hands on her hips and frowned deeply. "She'll come back. Maybe she went to go eat some apples or something." She said and Xena scanned the village and Gabrielle tapped her forehead. "Can you focus for just one second?" she pressed and the warrior blinked rapidly and swatted her hand away. "What are we going to do with miss tall and gorgeous over there?"

"Leave her here of course," Xena concluded and walked over to Argo who was smiling from ear to ear. "Okay, here's the deal. You're staying here in the village and Gabrielle is coming with me. We have important work to do today and I can't have you in our way."

Argo's smile faded and glared at the bard. "_She_ told you to leave me here, didn't she?"

"_What_?" Gabrielle asked with a gaped mouth.

"No, it was my idea." Xena stepped in between the two.

"_Your_ idea?!" Argo frowned sadly. "I just want to help. I won't get in the way, Xena. I promise."

"Xena, no," Gabrielle whispered and lightly hit the warrior's arm.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Xena said to her blonde guest and Gabrielle nodded in agreement. "You'd be safer here."

Argo furrowed her eyebrows and focused her attention on the petite bard and walked over to her. Gabrielle backed away slowly and Argo folded her arms. "I'll do whatever you say, Xena," she said and Gabrielle's eyes darted back and forth between her and Xena.

"Alright…" Xena hesitantly grabbed Argo's arm and pulled her away from Gabrielle. "But if you cause any trouble you're staying in the village."

The bard huffed and watched Xena and the tall blonde walk off together towards the village. For someone who just appeared in the village, naked no less, she sure had a big mouth and was very assertive. Not to mention she really wanted to be around Xena which only made Gabrielle more suspicious. First, disappearing men and now this strange woman wandering around without clothes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Athena popped into her brother's temple without an invitation and stormed over to the gloomy god of war sitting on his large throne. She stomped her boot on the ground and he lifted his eyes slowly, unimpressed by her ferocity.

"Ares, you tell your witch bitch to turn my warriors back!" she demanded.

He waved his hand and propped a leg over the throne's arm. "Does it _look_ like she is here right now?" he looked around his temple. "Nope. Not here. Come back later Athena." He shooed away and she slashed his hand with her sword and he hissed. "Get out of my temple!"

She was about to strike him again and heard a minute voice beside her and whipped her head around, eyeing the small boy with dark hair and big brown eyes. "Oh I see. She left you in charge of the brat." She snidely remarked and snarled at the boy. "Run along," she said and Damian frowned up at her.

Ares rest his palm against his cheek and cleared his throat. "Damian, go away," he said to his son. The brunette boy scowled at the goddess and slowly retreated in silence.

"What an abomination that child is," she said with a dramatic eye roll. "You need to make your sorceress woman appear so she can turn my warriors back into humans! They're running amuck around Marathon."

"Do you think I wanted it to end this way?" he stood from his throne, towering over his sister. "I was supposed to win and she ruined it!"

"Ha!" Athena smiled. "_You_ were supposed to win? In your dreams, brother." She jabbed her finger in his chest. "Listen, if you don't find Circe and convince her to turn my soldiers back I will find her myself and make your life a living nightmare. Got that?"

* * *

Gabrielle waited outside a merchant shop while Xena bargained for some boots for this mysterious woman to wear. She couldn't help but stare at her and watch her cling close to Xena's side, smiling gleefully and flipping her long gold locks behind her shoulder casually. Just who is she trying to impress?

She even saw Xena smile, nodding her head at the tall blonde as they exchanged words. Frowning, she tapped her fingers curled around the staff in her grasp. A lot of people liked Xena. A lot of people knew Xena and what she stood for. There were plenty of women and men who wanted to follow Xena and be just like her. Gabrielle had come to conclusion that this woman was just infatuated with Xena. Yes, that had to be it. It was the only reasonable explanation for this.

"Xena…" the bard called out her name, finally grabbing her attention. Xena thanked the merchant for the boots and handed them off to the new traveler. "Took you long enough."

The warrior emits an unsure smile and Argo held the boots in her arms, not able to keep her eyes off of Xena. Gabrielle noticed the overzealous blonde staring at Xena and sighed loudly. Argo turned her head and briefly grinned at her, not forgetting she was still present.

"Look Gabrielle, now we have matching boots!" Argo cheered and shoves the pair of shoes in the bard's face.

Gabrielle takes a generous step backward and grimaced up at Xena. "Does she really have to come with us?"

Xena gave a slow eye roll and Argo's lips curled into a frown. "Why are you being so snobby, Gabrielle? What did I ever do to you?" the tall blonde alleged.

The bard's mouth gapes. "_Snobby_?!"

"Alright!" Xena yelled. "We have a duty to fix whatever is going on in this village and I don't need you two fighting with each other."

Gabrielle grumbled and dug her staff deeper into the ground, glaring at the tall blonde who stuck very close to Xena. "I just don't see why she has to tag along. We don't even know your name."

Argo quirked her mouth sideways and looked down at her slender tanned human hands. She didn't know exactly how she ended up this way or how to fix it. She assumed that Xena would fix her. Xena could fix anything, she thought. She didn't want to come off stupid or silly by revealing herself too soon and she was just getting used to this body of hers.

Her eyes darted around the village, eyeing anything that looked familiar to come up with a name for herself. Gabrielle impatiently tapped her boot on the soil and Xena's caution was obvious. She spotted an inn called the Ambrosia Inn and smiled.

"Ambrosia," she says with a big smile.

The bard raised a brow. "_Ambrosia_? The food of the gods?" she question's the tall blonde. "Your name can't be Ambrosia!"

"Well, why not?" asked Argo confusedly. She didn't think it was such a bad name.

Xena rolled her eyes. "I've heard worse names. We should scout up ahead to see if we can find any clues to the disappearing men."

Argo nodded. "Great! I will lead the way!" she pushed Gabrielle out of the way and ran ahead of them to search for herself. Gabrielle stumbled into a tree and groaned, fixing her blouse and short skirt.

"Xena, I don't know what you see in her but she has it out for me!"

The warrior stifled a laugh and grabbed Gabrielle's hand then began walking in Argo's direction. "She's not so bad, Gabrielle. She's just a lost person. I would've thought you of all people would try to understand her."

Gabrielle lowered her gaze and thrust her staff over her shoulder. She peered upward at Argo and saw her looking at a tree and takes a handful of the leaves and stuffs them in her mouth.

"Uh…" she nudged Xena. "_You_ wanted to bring her along."

Xena shook her head and ran over to Argo and yanked the leaves out of her mouth. "What do you think you're doing?"

Argo chewed the remnants of the leaves and stared at her master in confusion. "I was hungry. I saw this tree filled with leaves! They have little berries too." She picked the small red berries off the leaf stems. "They're not poisonous. I checked. Do you want some?" she held out a handful of berries.

Xena pushed the berries away. "No. We need to focus."

* * *

Joxer roamed in an open field after he nearly escaped death from a group of travelers on the east side of the river. Growing tired and thirsty he thought it was a good idea to stop for some water but he stumbled upon a camp of men who weren't too kind to strangers. Luckily, he was able to run off without having the courage to fight them off, he survived.

He had heard that Xena and Gabrielle were in this area of Greece and decided to look for them. He'd been separated from them for a couple of months and after what happened in Thebes, he knew he was not welcomed. He had a funny feeling that Xena didn't care for him but he knew that she'd do anything to save him anyhow.

He clumsily slipped over a cluster of rocks and slid down a grassy hill. He landed on his back and helmet draped over his face. Groaning, he sat up slowly and raised the helmet. His eyes widened at a cave and smiled.

Joxer, feeling brave and adventurous after he escaped the brutes over the hillside, wandered into the cave. He pulled out his sword and stubbed his boot on a rock and hissed then whacked himself in the forehead with his own sword.

Gathering himself together he breathed out heavily and loudly marched deeper into the cave. His armor clanked against his body and made more noise than he realized.

"Hello?!" he called out. He spotted a tray of fruit and eagerly waltzed over to the tray and began snacking on the assortment of berries and sliced apples.

A low growl was heard from within the cave and Joxer halted with a mouthful of berries. He spun around and a huge black panther sauntered out from the shadows. He swallowed half the berries and spat out the remainder.

"Oh…" he smiled nervously and backed away slowly. "Nice kitty!" he put up his hands and he tripped over a tree root and fell flat on his rear. The panther snarled and strode towards him. "You in charge of this cave? I –I was just passing through!" he explained and scooted backwards until he bumped into something.

He lifted his eyes and saw a beautiful woman with dark hair staring down at him. His eyes drifted up underneath the slit in her dress and she whacked his head with a long scepter.

"Ow!" he hissed and rubbed his head and then heard the panther growling, inching closer.

She grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted him up off the ground with ease. "What are you doing in here?" she asks and slams him against the wall.

"Oh, I –I was just…just passing by and saw this cave. I –I was searching for my girls. They're my pals. Xena and Gabrielle. Ever heard of em? I'm sure you have. Everyone knows Xena!" he scoffed.

Circe raised her eyebrow and scanned the scrawny man's piss poor armor and sweat dripping down his forehead. "_You_…are a friend of Xena's?" she questions skeptically.

Joxer smiled, "well, yeah! Don't you know _me_? I'm Joxer, the best warrior in Greece, traveling warrior alongside the warrior princess and traveling bard!" he says proudly.

She smirks. "Never heard of you." she let go of his collar and he tried to escape and she stabbed the end of her scepter into his sleeve, pinning him to the wall. "I'm sure you traveled a long way…" she says with a serpent-like grin.

He nodded. "You wouldn't believe it but I defeated a bunch of thugs down by the river. They weren't prepared for Joxer the –"

She slapped a hand over his mouth. "I'm sure it was very _entertaining_ and invigorating to watch." She says dismissively, not the least bit interested in this oaf's fairytale stories. "Would you like to stay awhile? I have plenty of food and drink here."

He smiles nervously and was unsure of her intentions, although he was very thirsty and hungry after his long journey. "W-what about the _cat_?" he eyed the black panther's hungry golden eyes.

"Jafas? Oh he's just a dear friend of mine. He won't harm you. You're not afraid of him, are you? A big strong warrior like you…"

"I…I need to find Xena and Gabrielle. They're probably waiting for me." He tried to pull away and she forced her body against his and her hot breath grazed his cheek. He closed his eyes and took a big gulp, trying to ignore her.

"I'm good _friends_ with Xena. I could help you find your friends…" she whispered in his ear, barely touching his skin with her soft lips.

"R-really?"

She pulled away and looked into his doe eyes. The witch's irises turned a bright crimson and she pinched his chin. "You will do everything I say," she tells him in a smooth voice.

His eyes glazed over, listening to her soothing tone. "I…will do everything you say."

"You will bring Xena to me," she says.

* * *

Xena walked around the entire field outside of the village and couldn't find anything that could lead to the disappearing men. Her mind was more focused on Gabrielle's complaints throughout their excursion together. She didn't like her behaving the way she did.

She came around to a huddle of trees and saw animal tracks. There were large paw prints of animals that were not indigenous to the area which she thought odd. She knelt down and touched the large imprint of the animal. It appeared to be a cat, possibly a lion or puma.

Gabrielle watched Argo from afar, walking around the trees, who was very close to Xena at all times. She hated to say it, but she was irritated that this woman was taking up Xena's time and space without giving any thought to her existence.

Argo knelt down, smiling at Xena and scooted close. The warrior raised an eyebrow and peered over at the brown eyed blonde and briefly smiled. "Wow, such big footprints," she acknowledged.

"Yes, they are…" Xena scooped the soil in her palm and crushed it in between her fingers.

"Those look like puma tracks. We could follow them?" suggested Argo.

Gabrielle scoffed and walked over then grabbed Argo's shoulder. "I think Xena knows what she's doing. We're not going to follow those tracks. Who knows what will be on the other side?"

Xena stood up and the bard gave her a hopeful smile. "These tracks are from a cat just like Ambrosia said. This area doesn't have large animals like lions, tigers and panthers. It's very strange."

"And we're not going to trace the tracks, _right_?" the petite blonde reiterated. "Right, Xena?"

"We should alert Klyde first to see if he's seen any large cats roaming the area. That still doesn't explain the missing men though."

Argo held up her hand, eager to drop her opinion. "Maybe the cats ate the men?"

"There are no cats here," said Gabrielle with a snide tone.

"She's right," Xena interjected. "They could have eaten the men, but that doesn't tie anything in as to why the men would leave in the middle of the night. We should head back to the village and tell Klyde what we found."

She left to head back to the village and now Gabrielle was alone with Argo. Gabrielle's penetrating glare did not go unnoticed by the tall lanky blonde. Argo always felt tense around Gabrielle whenever Xena wasn't around and she had an opportunity to voice her opinion, but she wasn't sure if this was the right time or not.

Despite living her life as a horse and tending to Xena's commands for several years, she enjoyed being a human. She was finally able to tell Xena everything that she always wanted to, but to tell the bard what she felt for her was going to be more than a challenge.

* * *

All three sat in the Ambrosia Inn inside the village after Xena explained to Klyde of their findings. Their search did nothing but bring them to a dead end. Klyde had never seen any giant cats roaming around before so now they were back to square one.

Xena focused on eating and staring off into space. She couldn't quite wrap her head around this strange occurrence in this town. Meanwhile, Gabrielle was tapping her spoon on the bowl, staring at Argo sitting opposite from her. She thought it odd that the name of the inn they were staying in was also the name of the mysterious tall blonde woman.

Argo had yet to touch the food which was comprised of meat. She frowned at the bowl and Gabrielle slammed the spoon into the bowl, alarming Argo.

"You're not hungry all of a sudden? You were very eager to eat random leaves off a tree earlier."

Argo smirked and pushed the plate of food away. "I don't eat meat."

Gabrielle nods slowly and stared at Xena who wasn't even listening. "So, what do you eat then? Fish?"

"I prefer apples."

"_Apples_. How nutritious…" she smiles forcefully and grabs Xena's arm. "She is weird!" she whispered.

The warrior turned to the bard in the middle of chewing. "What?"

Argo stood up abruptly, alarming her traveling companions. "I'm going to ask the innkeeper if he has any apples," she says excitedly and leaves the table. Xena thought nothing of it and sat back in the chair, wiping her fingers on a wet cloth.

Gabrielle grimaced, narrowing her eyes. "Xena, don't you think she's weird? She appeared out of nowhere and wanted to follow you."

"Why are you being so hard on her? She's a nice girl," the warrior smiled and elbowed her friend gently. "Nicer than you're being right now," she muttered.

"I'm trying to be nice but she keeps picking at me and giving me mean mugs."

"Maybe you should try and smile. You have a nice smile. Use it." Xena winked.

Gabrielle huffed and folded her arms then sank in her chair. Argo returned with a bowl of berries instead of apples. She sat down and looked over at Xena and pushed a goblet of port towards her. "I know you like this kind," she says.

Xena raised her eyebrow and stared at the wine then to the tall blonde. "Oh…thank you…"

Argo pointed at the innkeeper at the bar. "He says you need to 'pay' him. He sounded really mad about it."

Gabrielle slapped her forehead and then the coin pouch was dropped in her lap. She whipped her head around to Xena and her mouth gaped. "Go pay the man, Gabrielle."

"Why can't she do it? She's the one who bought the food and wine. _She_ should pay him. We didn't even ask for port."

Xena frowned. "Just go do it, what's your problem?"

Gabrielle pushed her chair back and gripped the coin pouch tightly. Her eyes darted to Argo who sat opposite of Xena and she had a twinkle in her eyes. Rolling her eyes she stormed off to the bar to pay the supposedly angry innkeeper.

Argo smugly smiled and watched as the fuming bard passed by her. She leaned her elbows on the table, gazing at Xena. "I get the feeling Gabrielle doesn't like me very much."

Xena widened her eyes and licked her lips. Setting the goblet down, she peered over at Gabrielle arguing with the innkeeper and slamming her fist on the counter. She cringed and brushed the bangs out of her eyes.

"You know, it's odd. She's normally very welcoming towards strangers."

"I'm sure she'll warm up to me soon."

Xena raised her eyebrows and sipped the wine, feeling quite doubtful of that due to Gabrielle's behavior.

* * *

The three were offered a room to stay inside the inn and when they arrived to the room there was only one bed. Gabrielle looked at the bed and placed a hand on her hip. She was standing behind Argo and Xena who both towered over her. Without asking, Argo sat on the bed and crossed a leg over the other.

"Xena and I can sleep here. Gabrielle can sleep over there," she points to a mat on the floor with wool blankets. "You don't mind do you, Gabrielle?"

"Do I _mind_?!"

Xena gripped the bard's shoulder and solved the problem between the three of them. "I'll sleep on the floor. You can share the bed with Gabrielle." she walked off, not in the mood to argue at all. She began taking off her corset and placed her sword and chakram against the wall beside the floor mat.

Argo was somewhat disappointed that she couldn't share the bed with Xena and turned to Gabrielle who was equally as displeased as she was. She put on a smile and scooted to the far side of the bed and paddled the empty spot next to her.

"Come, Gabrielle, we can share the bed."

The bard folded her arms, unwilling to do just that. She glanced over at Xena who was ignoring the awkward situation and was already lying down, covering herself with the blankets.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" asked Argo.

Gabrielle sighed and sat on the bed as far away from Argo as possible and rolled over onto her side, curling her knees to her chest. Argo smiled and stared up at the ceiling, enjoying this moment with her two companions she'd traveled with for years now.

"We will be good friends one day, Gabrielle. You'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gabrielle watched afar at Xena and Argo searching the woods together. After last night she didn't want to be anywhere that woman. There was something about her that she did not like and Gabrielle couldn't figure out what it was.

Why is she so irritating? Why is she even here? Who is she really? Is this a trick? All of these questions swarmed in the bard's head. As she was normally the one to be by Xena's side during times like this, she stood back, observing the two working very well together. The strange thing of it all was that Xena was very welcoming to this woman naturally and Gabrielle hated to admit that she was a bit envious.

Picking at her fingernails, she muttered to herself as her eyes darted back and forth between the warrior and the tall blonde conversing in hushed tones.

Circe appeared from behind a tree and wrapped her arm over her thin waist, eyeing Gabrielle seething with envy. She raised her eyebrow and looked over the meadow at Xena and her horse turned human, Argo. Her plan was not going as expected but she had to admit that it was far funnier to see this reaction instead.

The witch made herself scarce and closed her eyes, whispering a small incantation and spread her arms outward. She then transformed her entire being into the God of War. With a flicker her of her eyes they changed from bright red to the solemn deep brown to resemble that of Ares. She walked towards the bard and cleared her throat loudly.

Gabrielle whipped her body around and frowned at the sight of the façade before her. She clutched her staff; ready to attack if need be even though she knew she could do no real damage to the war god anyhow.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she asks with locked teeth.

"Watching you suffer," Circe answers and smiles.

Gabrielle backed away as _Ares_ walked closer to her. Her eyes glanced over at Xena and Argo, wondering if she should call for help or not. She wanted to play it cool for now just in case. Ares wasn't stupid enough to strike her without Xena present, was he?

"Do you have anything to do with this?"

Circe looked around, playing along and stared at Xena smiling at the human Argo. "Whatever do you mean, Gabrielle?"

"You _know_ what I mean, Ares," the bard hissed. "This village. These missing men. Are you behind this or not?"

"Are you accusing _me_?" Circe gave a charming smile to go along with the infamous war god's smooth voice. "What if I was involved? What are you planning to do about it?"

Gabrielle looked at Ares questionably and eyed Xena again.

The witch folded her arms and kept grinning at the confused blonde. "Waiting for your savior to come to your aid?" she implied to the bard's wandering eyes towards Xena scavenging the woods with Argo, taking their sweet time.

Gabrielle swung her staff and within a mere second, the war god disappeared. She breathed heavily and circled around very cautiously. It was rather rare for Ares to show his face only to give vague information which was unlike him, she thought. Ares was always known to boast over his chaotic plans but this time he was rather reserved.

"Xena!" she yelled and ran towards the forest.

Argo spun around and frowned at the petite bard sprinting across the field. "Has she finally decided to stop sulking about?" she mutters and Xena nudged her arm.

"What is it Gabrielle?"

She halted and put a hand over her beating chest. Taking a moment to catch her breath she didn't even acknowledge Argo's presence. "Ares was here. I –I was just talking to him."

Xena knitted her brows and walked out of the forest, searching the area and looked to the sky. "What did he say to you?"

"I asked him if he had anything to do with the missing men but he…was being strange. He didn't give me any information."

"That is not surprising for the God of War," said Argo. She received a glare from the short blonde and Argo smiled back at her.

"What do _you_ know? You can't even remember to wear clothes let alone where you come from!"  
Gabrielle spat.

Argo threw down the rocks that she picked up during the scavenger hunt with Xena and walked towards the bard. Xena was too busy looking for the supposed war god to notice the tiff behind her. Argo's big brown eyes glanced over at her master then she pushed Gabrielle onto the ground.

Xena turned and saw Gabrielle on the ground. She frowned and sheathed the blade. "What is going on back there?" she asked.

Gabrielle sprung up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. "That's it, I'm so done with this." She marched over to Argo and if she had sleeves she'd roll them up, ready to fight. Argo smiled and placed her hands on her hips, confident that she could take the small blonde.

Xena ran in between them and placed her hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "There isn't going to be any fighting," she calmly said. "Gabrielle!"

"She pushed me! Aren't you going to do something about that? She's been out to get me since day one, Xena! Why can't you see that?"

"I'm not out to get you, Gabby."

The bard snarled. "My name isn't Gabby! It's Gabrielle!"

Xena pushed her friend backward to a secluded corner and briefly smiled at Argo. "Excuse us…" she pinned the bard to a tree and stared into her angry emerald eyes. "Gabrielle, we aren't here to fight. We're supposed to find out what happened to these men and your anger is getting to you."

"No, it isn't! She's been cracking jokes about my height and the way I look and she's all over you, Xena. And she pushed me."

"You already said that."

Gabrielle huffed and wiggled out of the hold and slightly pushed her warrior friend away then stormed off.

"Where're you going?!" Xena shouted. "Gabrielle!"

She sighed watching the bard march away back to the village area. She entered the woods and there Argo was searching for more animal tracks, completely ignoring what had happened. She folded her arms and stared at the lanky blonde.

"Ambrosia," she announces and Argo turned around.

"I found more tracks. We could follow them deeper into the woods. I think we're getting close."

"You shouldn't have pushed Gabrielle. Why did you do that? Now she's upset at me."

Argo shrugged her shoulder. "She's just jealous that I am 'tagging along' so she says, with you two. She's always been the jealous type." She bent down and picked up the soil and sniffed it.

Xena titled her head and caught what Argo had just said about Gabrielle being jealous all the time which struck her odd. "What do you mean by that?"

"By what?"

"You said Gabrielle has _always_ been the jealous type. What did you mean by that?"

Argo's cheeks flushed and she didn't make eye contact. "I meant that…she has that aura about her. I can read people very well. Are we going to continue to track? We are losing daylight quickly." She dropped the soil and walked further into the woods, tracing the animal prints.

The warrior narrowed her eyes skeptically.

* * *

Gabrielle drummed her fingers on the counter at the bar. The innkeeper came by and smiled at her curiously and gave her another cup of port. She drank half the cup and he blinked rapidly at her quick consumption of alcohol.

"Where's your warrior friend? Aren't you two suppose't be looking for those missing guys?"

She scowled and slammed her fist on the counter. "I don't want to talk about Xena."

He shrugged his shoulders. "I was just wondering. You should probably stop drinking those." He attempted to pull the cup away and she snagged it with a firm grip. Backing away slowly he made his way to the opposite side of the bar to attend to his other guests.

Joxer stumbled into the inn, bumping into a few tables on his way in. Gabrielle turned at the commotion and banged her forehead on the counter, cursing her life at this very moment. Nothing was turning out how it was supposed to be right now.

"Why me?" she lifted her head and raised her palms to the ceiling. "Why?"

"Oh! Gabby!" he smiled and ran over with his clumsy armor hanging off his chest and leaned on the counter, smiling happily at her.

She sipped the wine and stared at the full bottles of port on the other side of the counter. She was definitely thinking of stealing a couple of those to save for later.

"What do you want, Joxer?"

"I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by."

"Sure you were," she mumbles. "I'm a little busy."

He eyed her chugging the wine and she pushed the empty cup towards the edge of the counter and waved her hand to the innkeeper to refill her cup which he was reluctant to do. Joxer pouted his lips and watched as the cup was refilled and Gabrielle drinking it rapidly. Some of the wine dripped down her neck.

"Um…Gabby...should you be drinking that? I mean, we all know how you are with wine. Like that one time –"

She reached over and gripped his throat and he croaked. "Shut up, Joxer. I'm not in the mood for one of your dumb stories!" she shoved him into a large man beside him.

Joxer fumbled and apologized to the man twice his size and backed away, hiding behind Gabrielle for protection. "Ah…Gabrielle…a little help?"

She turned in the bar stool and grabbed her staff. "Must I do everything around here?" she griped and whacked the brute in the jaw with her staff and he stumbled backward into a group of travelers who didn't look very pleased at all. The men all stared at her and Joxer.

Her eyes widened and she grabbed Joxer's hand and the two ran out of the inn fast as lightning.

Coming to a stop outside of the village Gabrielle slapped Joxer's chest and he fell into a pile of hay. "What is the big idea, Joxer? You always get in the way at the wrong time!"

"Jeez, Gabrielle. What's eating you? I just came here to tell you that I know 'bout those men."

She raised her eyebrow. "_Really_?" she seemed skeptical.

"Yeah, you see, I was looking for you guys. Well, actually I knew where you were of course. I was just tryna catch up with you and Xena. I stumbled upon this cave," he explained his journey using huge gestures with his hands and she sighed irritatingly. "And then I walked in. There was this big cat! A panther!"

She interrupted, "did you say _panther_?"

"Yeah, anyway," he brushed that part off, "I got there and I totally wasn't scared of it 'cause you know, I can take a cat, right? Who couldn't?"

"Show me the cave."

His mouth parted. "Shouldn't we get Xena too? She should know about this, right? Where's she anyway?" he searched around and he was pulled out of the hay by the bard. "Gabrielle! What about Xena?"

"We don't need her. We can solve this problem without her. Anything she can do, I can do too. Come on!" she growled and yanked him forward.

* * *

Argo and Xena followed the tracks together and the animal prints suddenly stopped as if the animals floated the rest of the way or something may have happened to them. Even though Xena was focused on finding out what happened to these men she couldn't get her mind off of Gabrielle's angry departure earlier.

"What happened here?" Argo asked. "This is odd. What do we do now?"

Xena looked to her tall companion. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because you know everything! You always have a plan."

"It's hard to have a plan when I have nothing to go off of. These animal tracks mean nothing to us now that they've abruptly stopped just outside the woods. Maybe we should go back to the village."

Argo half smiled. "You just want to go back because you're worried about Gabrielle. I recognize that look."

Another strange statement from her, Xena realized. "Uh huh. That's it."

"She'll forgive you eventually! She always does." She blurted out and then caught herself. This was the third time she spoke out of turn. "I mean, you are close friends, right? I can sense it."

"Are you some sort of oracle?"

Argo laughed. "I don't even know what that is but it must be good since you thought of it." She came close to the warrior and Xena raised her eyebrow, sizing up the tall bronzed blonde. "If you want to go back to the village, we can. It won't bother me."

"And you will apologize to Gabrielle."

Apologizing was something Argo did not like to do. "Well, I _suppose_ I could do that since Gabrielle is so important to you."

"She is –very important. She's my friend and I don't know what I'd do without her. She's always been there for me and I don't want her to be upset with me because of something _you_ did." Xena backtracked through the forest heading towards the village.

Human Argo frowned sadly and sighed, hanging her head then followed the warrior a few feet behind, keeping silent for once.

* * *

Circe heard the bumbling oaf of a man and the bard traveling closer to her inside the cave. She looked around at all the animals she had in cages and others lounging on the cold ground. The black panther that Joxer encountered yesterday looked up to the witch, waiting her command.

"Jafas, go hide somewhere and don't come out till I tell you," she whispered. The large cat lazily rose from the ground and sauntered off, swinging his tail back and forth, purring loudly as he descended into darkness.

Gabrielle cautiously walked further into the dark cave with Joxer mumbling beneath his breath. "Are you sure this is the way?" she asks. "Joxer stop breathing down my neck!"

They came into the center of the cave and Gabrielle's jaw dropped at the mass amount of animals in cages hanging from the cave ceiling. There were pumas, birds, goats, lions; all in cages. There were dozens of torches lit around the cave.

She gripped her staff firmly and heard clapping from a distance and held up her weapon. Circe appeared before the bard in her disguise as the God of War once more to trick her. Gabrielle half rolled her eyes and lowered the useless staff.

"You again," she says. "I knew you were up to something. What's with the cave, Ares? And do you have a fetish with animals?" she looked around at the caged creatures and they did not look happy.

Circe frowned. "Do not be bothered with things do not concern you, Gabrielle."

"Why are you talking like that?" she felt the need to laugh.

Joxer was expecting the same gorgeous dark haired woman to appear in the cave. He searched around and Circe's eyes followed his curiosity.

"I asked you to bring Xena to me and you failed," she says to Joxer and he froze in place, timid of the façade of the war god.

Gabrielle scoffed. "Of course!" she threw her hands in the air. "You _always_ want Xena. I am not surprised. If you wanted her why don't you just go to her like you always do? You know what, Ares, you're acting very strange."

"Silence!" the witch yelled.

The bard flinched.

Ares appeared in the cave and Gabrielle's eyes widened at the sight of two God of Wars in the same area. She kept her guard up and backed away slowly, holding the staff in front of her body. Ares looked over and saw a mirror image of himself staring right back at him.

"What in the name…" he muttered. "Circe!" his voice boomed throughout the cave and Joxer covered his helm with his hands.

The witch transformed back into her normal form and now Gabrielle was very confused.

Joxer lifts his head slowly and smiled, pointing at Circe. "That's who I was looking for!"

"_Shut_ _up_, Joxer…" Gabrielle hissed.

Circe snarled. "You are getting on my nerves," she pointed her finger at Joxer and he turned into a ferret. Gabrielle gasped and looked down at her feet at the ferret clinging to her boots.

She turned to attention to the fuming war god. "What are you doing here? I put you in charge of Damian."

He grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall. "Just who gave you the right to pose as me? Nobody!"

Circe emits a seductive smile. "Ares, please. You're so angry all the time. I can fix that for you."

Gabrielle grabbed Joxer and shook her head, staring into the big brown ferret eyes. "Gods…Joxer." He wrapped his tail around her neck and while the two gods were arguing she decided to make a run for it.

Circe frowned deeply and pushed Ares out of the way and waved her hand, sealing the cave's exit. Gabrielle skid to a stop, nearly running into the wall. She banged on the magic wall with her fists and cried out for help. As she was screaming for aid she felt something wrap around her ankles and looked down but there was nothing.

Circe wagged her fingers and pulled Gabrielle backwards across the ground with a great invisible force. Gabrielle reached out to grab onto the wall as her legs were uncontrollably being pulled backwards. Ares rolled his eyes, standing by watching the blonde suffer and struggle.

She yanked her fist towards her chest and Gabrielle flew onto her back. She blew against her fingernails and sighed deeply then levitated the bard off the ground. Joxer in ferret form held onto her dear life, too afraid to let go. His tail covered her eyes.

"Joxer!" she yelled and pried his tail off her eyes.

The moment her vision was clear she saw a wall in front of her and shut her eyes, afraid she was to be smashed into it. Circe smiled and walked around to stare at the blonde. "You should've brought Xena with you. Your friend failed to do as I asked."

Ares stepped in. "What if I get Xena for you? Will you then turn Athena's warriors back into humans?"

Gabrielle struggled but she couldn't move a muscle in her body. "What?! Ares, no!"

"Oh?" the sorceress eyed the war god. "You'd do that for me? I'll _consider_ turning them back."

"Circe!"

She sighed dramatically. "Fine, I'll do it but you bring your warrior to me. I'll change all of your sister's warriors back into humans. I'm sure they're still clucking around in Marathon as we speak!" she laughed.

He vanished out of the cave and Gabrielle tried to turn her head. "Ares!" she growled and looked at the witch. "Why are you doing this? And change Joxer back!"

"You are so irritating. Perhaps I will turn you into something Xena hates. What animals does she detest? Beetles? Worms? Oh wait, no, I have it! A rat."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Xena searched throughout the village for awhile looking for Gabrielle and couldn't find her anywhere. She tried not to cause alarm but it was unnerving the way people were looking at her. She felt like she was spending more time worrying about Gabrielle than trying to solve the situation in this village. Two days wasted in this place.

She and Argo went back to the inn and approached the bar. Xena snapped her fingers to grab the innkeeper's attention and he finished chatting with a customer and made his way over with a smile on his face.

"Xena, what can I do for you? More port?" he offered and smiled at the tall blonde behind her.

"I'm looking for my friend. She's about this tall," she measures her hand up to her breastplate, "blonde hair, short skirt. Have you seen her?"

The innkeeper pursed his mouth. "Ah, yes. She did not have nice things to say about you."

Xena raised an eyebrow and Argo's eyes wandered around, pretending not to listen to the conversation. "Have you seen her or not?" her patience wore thin.

"Yeah, I saw her alright," he chuckled. "She left awhile ago with a guy."

"A guy?"

The innkeeper pointed to his head, "he wore some stupid pasta strainer on his head."

Argo's attention was quenched and she let out a big smile then blurts out, "oh, Joxer!"

Xena spun around, questionably staring at her tag-along guest. She really didn't have time to argue and now that Joxer was in the mix that was never good. Also, she hated the fact that Gabrielle was angry at her and it wasn't even her fault.

"Where did they go?" she asked him.

"How should I know?" he threw his hands in the air, frustrated by the amount of questions. "They left and that was the last I saw of them."

She grumbled. "Thanks." She grabbed Argo's arm and scurried out of the inn, bypassing the onlookers at the tables.

* * *

They roamed outside of the village square and while Xena was looking for traces of Gabrielle and Joxer, Argo kept blabbering on and on about what a great time she was having so far. She felt so proud of herself for finding the animal prints in the ground and even though Xena was focused on finding the bard, she couldn't help but overhear Argo's not so subtle way of insulting Gabrielle with light teasing jabs.

The warrior whipped out her blade and pointed it at Argo to shut her up. "Gabrielle was right. Something is off about you. How come you know so much about me and my friends? And why are you always making fun of Gabrielle? Maybe she's not the 'jealous type' but it is _you_ who is jealous."

Argo felt her heart had been run through and she frowned sadly. "Jealous? How can you say that about me? You're my friend."

"I don't even know you!" she lowered her sword and wagged her head. "Forget it. You're staying back in the village while I go look for Gabrielle."

"But Xena!"

"Go!"

She turned and walked off then bumped into the god of war. "Ares," she snarls. Drawing her sword she held it dangerously close to his chest and he raised his eyebrow. He grabbed the tip of the blade with his fingertips and pushed it aside.

He looked over her shoulder at the tall lithe blonde waiting in the field. "You found another blonde to keep you company, Xena? You move on quickly."

"What have you done with Gabrielle? I know you're behind all of this."

He folded his arms over his broad chest. "And _what_ am I behind exactly?"

"Gabrielle told me."

"How could she do that?"

"You spoke to her earlier!" she looked at him as if he was stupid and he continued to have a dumbfounded expression. "Ares, what kind of sick game are you trying to pull?"

Ares knitted his brows. "You tell me, Xena. I just spoke to Gabrielle and –"

"Isn't that what I just said?" she scoffed and sheathed her weapon then shoved him out of her path. "I don't have time for this."

He turned and eyed the blonde lingering with a grimace. "Don't you want to know where the annoying blonde is? That is, if you still care as I can see you already replaced the bard."

Xena's eyes widened and she marched back over to the war god and punched him in the jaw. He stumbled back only a couple of steps and smiled, nodding his head. She could see he was enjoying feeding off her anger and decided to pull back.

"_You're_ the mastermind behind this conspiracy in the village and now _you_ want to take me to Gabrielle after _you_ kidnapped her…" she says and he cocked his head. "Are you listening to yourself?"

He stood back, compiling all of the misconstrued information and put the pieces together. It all made sense to him now. He let out a loud laugh and Argo cringed at the sight of his hysterics and Xena shared the same expression. Both of them were confused at the war god's hearty laughter.

"Oh, I see what's going on." He wagged his finger and sauntered over to the warrior princess. "You think I kidnapped Gabrielle."

"We're really going to go over this _again_…" she muttered and walked off. "I'll go find her by myself. I don't need to be bothered by your riddles."

He raced over and grabbed her shoulders from behind, pulling her back. She clenched her jaw and prayed that she'd have the patience to remain calm and keep focus with his grimy hands upon her.

"I'm here to help you," he whispered in her ear. "I'll take you to Gabrielle."

"What's the catch, Ares?"

"I do something nice for you; you do something nice for me. It's a win-win situation. Don't you trust me?"

She smirked and looked over her shoulder, locking his eyes with him. "I don't see any flying pigs."

Aphrodite appeared and looked rather disgruntled and annoyed. Her hair was a disaster and her pink flowing gown was filthy and ripped at the trim. Ares looked at his sister and stepped back, fearful of her dreaded appearance.

Then Damian ran out from behind the goddess with a big eager smile on his face. Xena put a hand on her hip and gawked at the little brunette child. Her eyes went from Aphrodite to Ares and back to the mischievous little boy who seemed to be the cause of the love goddess' irritated state.

"That is the last time I babysit for you, bro!" she poked her finger in Ares' chest.

"_Babysit_?" Xena curiously said.

Ares groaned and grabbed his son's arm and pulled him far away from Aphrodite. A smile crept up on Xena's lips when she was clued into everything and he caught her smugness out of the corner of his peripheral vision.

"Is this boy your _son_, Ares?" the warrior raised her eyebrows and widened her malicious smile. He rolled his eyes and refused to answer. She bent down to the boy's eye level. "What's your name?"

"Damian…" he frowned and narrowed his brown eyes.

Aphrodite picked out a piece of wood debris from her wild blonde locks and whined. "Don't get too close to the brat, Xena. He might turn you into a toad."

Damian looked up at his aunt and stuck his tongue out at her. She crinkled her nose and did just the same to annoy him and made an ugly mocking face while she was at it.

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I don't like _mortals_," the boy eyed Xena and she rose slowly and glanced at Ares who completely blocked the entire situation out and ignored everyone around him. "I want to go home!"

"Send the little monster back where he came from. Maybe he and Medusa can have a party on the River Styx together!" Aphrodite spat. "He's your problem now, Ares. You made that thing. You take care of it." She folded her arms and disappeared.

Argo hesitantly walked towards them and Xena looked her way and held up her hand, signaling her to stay back. Damian tugged on his father's leg and when he wasn't given the proper attention he inhaled deeply and let out an ear piercing scream.

Xena covered her ears and Argo bent over, hands over ears. Birds flew from the trees and animals scattered out of the woods, running into several directions from the boy's screeching echo.

* * *

Gabrielle sat in a human sized cage inside the cave and stared at the witch as she kept talking to the large black panther as if it were some small house cat. She cringed in disgust and Circe turned to her with a glimmering smile.

"How long are you going to keep me in here? Indefinitely? What do you do with the humans once you turn them into animals? Do you eat them?"

The sorceress laughed and knelt down. Her arm slithered through the iron bars and pinched the bard's chin and Gabrielle yanked her face away and scooted as far back as she could go.

"What a waste. Eat my precious slaves? What kind of awful tales have you been reading?"

"You're only doing this for attention. You're not even an Olympian," Gabrielle teased the witch. "You're nothing to them."

Circe ruffled her long dark hair and sauntered back over to sit down on a throne she conjured up earlier. Her companion, Jafas, sat beside her, snarling at Gabrielle. She grazed her long fingernails in between his ears to soothe him.

"Watch your mouth, little one. You are lucky that Jafas is a vegetarian."

"A vegetarian." Gabrielle deadpanned and the witch winked. "You're a fool if you think Ares is going to hand over Xena to you. He would never do that."

She sighed and picked at her nails. "He owes me a couple of favors."

Damian's loud piercing scream entered the cave and stalactites fell from the ceiling and all of the animals squawked, roared and hissed at the noise. Circe stood up at the sound of her son's echoing cries and knew that he was not far and she also knew that he was on mortal ground.

She raised her hand and said a dark incantation and Gabrielle could feel her ears burning, although she didn't know if that was from that horrid scream or Circe's sinister spell. Once Circe finished reciting the spell Damian, Ares, Xena and Argo were all present in the cave.

Gabrielle smiled. "Xena!" she yelled and reached through the bars.

The warrior turned and she was quick to unsheathe her sword. Seeing her friend in a cage was not something she was expecting and she certainly wasn't expecting a cave full of animals either.

Damian smiled and ran over to Circe and hugged her legs tightly. "Mother, why did you leave me?"

She grimaced and her eyes turned bright red, glaring at Ares. "What is he doing here?"

Ares looked around at the cave and crossed his arms. "If you could just transport us here why did you send me to get Xena?"

"You did _what_?" Xena spun around. "What is going on? And who in Tartarus is that?" she nudged her head at the witch.

Gabrielle banged her fists on the cage. "Xena! Less talking, more helping!"

Circe spotted the warrior attempting to aid Gabrielle and she grabbed her scepter and smiled, pointing it directly at her. Xena banged her chakram against the lock repeatedly and Gabrielle urged her to continue until she saw the witch's scepter.

"Xena!"

Spinning around, Xena looked dead straight into the witch's point of view and shielded her eyes from the bright light. Gabrielle closed her eyes and seconds later she heard the chakram hit the stone ground. Slowly, she opened one eye, afraid to look, and then opened the other. She was horrified at what she saw.

"Xena…gods…" she whispered, staring at her friend who was now a black wolf.

Ares' mouth was left ajar, staring at his warrior woman and now she was a canine with long fangs and piercing blue eyes. He whipped his head around to Circe who was cackling loudly and Damian grinned, relishing in the moment with his mother.

Argo balled her fists up seeing her master trapped in an animal's body and glared at the cackling sorceress. Before the war god could get his hands on Circe, Argo raced forward and rammed her onto the ground. The scepter slipped out of Circe's grip and slid against the ground and the orb shattered as soon as it hit the cave wall.

While the two were rolling around on the ground, Gabrielle grabbed the chakram and sawed it against the lock. She felt bad for using Xena's weapon in this way but she couldn't think of a better plan. She got a glare from Xena's wolf eyes and grinned sheepishly.

"I'm sorry for this…" she said and furrowed her eyebrows. "What am I saying? I'm talking to an animal!" she banged the chakram on the lock after she sawed the chain halfway through and then she received a deep scratch from her friend's claws.

"Ow! Okay…I'm sorry." She mumbled and kicked open the cage door and heard squeaking from a cage hanging from the cave ceiling. "Oh, right." She jumped up and grabbed Joxer from the cage and he wrapped his body around her shoulders.

Circe kicked Argo off her and she slid across the ground. She got to her feet and turned, coddling her broken scepter as if it were a baby. She held the scepter laden in her arms and felt hands wrap around her throat.

Ares lifted her off the ground, tightening his grip around her throat. She choked and coughed. "Circe! You promised to turn Athena's women back and now you've turned Xena into another one of your sick games!"

Gabrielle snatched her staff and looked at the cave exit which was no longer sealed with the witch's magic. She smiled and looked down at Xena who kept eyeing Argo and refused to leave without her.

The bard sighed and yelled, "Ambrosia, let's go!"

Argo rubbed her head and saw Ares choking the life out of the sorceress and quickly made a break for the exit.

* * *

By nightfall they reached the woods far from the village and the cave. Gabrielle hoped that they were far enough from Circe but given that her scepter was no longer operational, perhaps her powers weakened without it. She could only hope.

She and Argo stared at the warrior sitting down by the campfire. Xena stared up at them with her canine eyes and Gabrielle folded her arms, unsure of what to say or what to think.

"My friend is a wolf," she stated. "This is insanity!"

"Poor Xena. What are we going to do now?" Argo asked.

The bard slowly turned and glared at the tall blonde. She saw the look in her eyes. This woman was obviously smitten with Xena, whether she was a human or beast. "This is all your fault."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me! If you hadn't picked a fight with me I would've never gone to the cave with Joxer and now look what happened! They're both animals!"

Argo raised an eyebrow. "I didn't make you go into that cave, Gabrielle. You did that by yourself. You're always so impulsive."

"_Impulsive_? How would you know? You don't even know me!"

"I know enough."

Gabrielle growled and plopped down onto the ground and Xena walked over on all fours and sat next to her. The bard could barely look at her friend in this state and slapped a hand over her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. It's too weird."

Xena nudged her long nose against the blonde's arm.

Opening her eyes, she stared at Argo who seemed to be just as distressed. She also finally looked at the warrior's blue eyes and pursed her lips. "Looks like…we'll have to work together to fix this somehow," she says unconvincingly.

Argo nodded and sat down by the fire. "I'll do anything to turn Xena back! Oh and…Joxer too."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Sure, Gabby –Gabrielle," she corrected.

"Why do you like Xena so much?"

Argo emits a soft smile. "Why do you?"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Circe sobbed over her broken scepter and remained in the dark cave by her lonesome self. Ares left her with Damian so she could wallow in self pity and child-like behavior over something so small and meaningless. He thought it'd be best to leave her be for the evening but he returned the following day, expecting her mood to change, but it didn't.

Damian smiled up at him and greeted him with a hug. The war god pried his son's arms off his leg and approached the sulking sorceress.

"Circe, why are you still on the floor blubbering like a baby?" he asks and folds his arms.

She refused to answer and Damian eyed the broken pieces of the scepter's sphere on the ground and sighed. He didn't wish to see his mother so upset, although he wasn't entirely sure what the cause of her distress was.

"You!" she stood up and pointed her finger in Ares' face. "This is your doing!"

"Me?" he laughed and smacked her hand. "You are crying over a scepter. Just conjure another one!"

She growled and threw the useless scepter across the cave. "Don't you understand? I cannot cast any spells without my scepter! It is the source of all my magic!" she yelled and the realization was clear on Ares' face. "Now I am stuck here with no magic!"

He scratched his bearded chin and pursed his lips. "What you're telling me is that…you can't change Athena's warriors back and Xena is stuck as a dog. Is that what you're telling me?"

"Actually, she's a wolf," Damian corrected. His father frowned sternly at him and he backed away to hide behind his mother's dress.

"Yes!" she hissed. "I cannot leave this realm without my scepter. I am stuck here and it's all your fault."

Ares snickered. "You're worthless. That's what you're saying, isn't it? The _mighty_ sorceress from the underworld is useless without a simple magic stick," he laughed aloud, his voice echoing throughout the cave. "Athena is going to throw a fit and who's going to be at fault? ME!"

"You find a way to get me out of this, Ares!"

His hearty laugh roared inside the cave and she shoved him backward. "This is your mess, witch."

She smirked and sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders. "You wouldn't want your precious warrior to remain a canine forever, would you?" she whispered and his smile faded. "I didn't think so. Find her and that blonde girl."

"After what just happened I don't think Gabrielle is going to trust me," he snickers.

"Oh? I imagine not. You're the god of lies. Your brim is filled with lies –so many lies –that it begs to overflow at any moment!" she snarled and pushed him away from her and she began to pace in circles. "There is a way to get another scepter but I will need help."

"I'm not going to help you."

"Not you!" she waved her hand and smiled. "Send the blonde one to the River Styx: cross the river of woe and ask Charon to take her to Medusa's lair. She will be able to help me. She is forbidden to come to the mortal realm and now I cannot leave this wretched place. How the tables have turned!"

The war god's eyes darted around the cave and he cleared his throat. "Aphrodite wasn't joking when she said to send Damian to the River Styx," he snorted, finding that joke to be so ironic at this moment.

"Your sister is a nuisance to her own existence. Off you go!" she shooed him away. "Tell your canine warrior the plan."

He rolled his eyes and was about to leave until she held up her hand. "What is it now?!"

She grabbed their son by his shoulders and pushed him forward. "Take Damian with you. He will aid the blonde one in the underworld. He can cross two realms but I cannot. He will make sure that the gorgon gives them the correct scepter."

Ares scoffed. "I am not leaving him in the hands of the bard."

"Do it! Or else your warrior stays the way she is forever. Poor Xena, a pity that she was in the way just at the right time. Go on, Ares, time's wasting away!"

* * *

By the river outside of the village, Joxer picked at the berries on a bush while Gabrielle stood by watching her canine friend drink from the water. Argo picked some fruit from a tree and came back with enough for everyone.

Argo looked at the sadness across the bard's face and placed the satchel of fruit on the ground and walked over towards. Both of them looked at the warrior pacing around the river in the blazing sun, her shiny black coat glistening in the sunlight much like her dark hair.

"We'll find a way to turn them back, Gabrielle."

The petite blonde sighed and felt hopeless at this point. She didn't know what kind of trouble they were getting into when they came to this village but now she wished they would've never came in the first place. None of this would have happened but if they hadn't come then she wouldn't have found out what happened to all of those men.

It was going to be difficult to explain to the village magistrate that all of the men in town had been turned into beasts by a crazy witch. That sounded so unbelievable it'd probably be best to tell them that they all joined a cult strictly for worshipping a strange unheard of deity.

While Argo was worried about her master and somewhat even Joxer, she didn't have much desire to turn back into a horse. She liked living as a human and liked interacting with people instead of remaining silent and observing. She also felt responsible for this mess. Perhaps Gabrielle was right, she thought.

She pulled the bard aside. "Gabrielle, I want to apologize to you. I shouldn't have said all those horrible things about you and pushed you."

Gabrielle looked up questionably at the tall blonde. "It doesn't really matter anymore." Her eyes darted back to Xena who was now lying in the grass, staring at the calm river.

"It matters to me. This would've never happened if I didn't make you so angry. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Sighing, she relented. "I forgive you but we need to focus on Xena and Joxer right now. I can't stand looking at either one of them like this." She groaned and dug her fingers in her hair. "What are we going to do? Xena always has a plan! I don't have anything! I don't even know where to start. This is a disaster."

"Maybe we should go tell the village that we found the men in that witch's cave?" Argo suggested.

"I –I don't think that's a good idea. Those men are beasts, literally. It will cause a riot and that won't solve anything." She now felt they were heading in the right direction somewhat. "Where do we go from here?"

"I wish I had an answer for you."

Ares walked over to the two blondes with a beaming grin. "I have one option for you ladies."

Gabrielle snatched her staff from the ground and pointed it at him. Xena turned and walked over, snarling, showing all of her sharp canines to the war god. Ares raised his eyebrow and took a step back whilst holding his son's hand.

"We don't need your help, Ares! You've helped enough. I can't believe you were going to give Xena to that sorceress!"

He rolled his eyes. "It wasn't like that. None of this was supposed to happen!" he yelled and eyed Argo, narrowing his eyes. "You look familiar."

Her face paled. "We met earlier."

He took another look at her, scanning her from head to toe. "There's something weird about you."

Finally, someone agrees, Gabrielle thought to herself. "Ares, we don't have time for this. Tell us what you want or be on your merry way."

Ares' eyes were firmly planted on Argo thus making her incredibly nervous. He approached her and she backed away slowly. He looked into her brown doe eyes and sniffed her blonde wavy locks. Gabrielle was disgusted by the way he was looking at her and then peered down at Xena who equally was not keen on his behavior either.

"Ares, what are you doing?"

He was mere inches away from Argo's face and she breathed heavily, leaning up against a tree. He smiled, pulling away and turned to the irritated bard and her canine warrior. "_Animals_ everywhere," he said and Argo bit her tongue.

"Anyway, I have a way for you to turn Xena back but you might not like the conditions."

"We will do anything!" Argo pleaded.

"I bet you will," he says with a low chuckle. "Damian!"

He ran out from behind a huddle of bushes and Gabrielle stepped back, allowing the small child to run towards the war god. "Um, what is that child doing here?"

"He's Ares' son," Argo whispered.

Gabrielle laughed. "Come on, _really_."

Argo looked at her seriously and the bard cringed.

"Oh…okay…" she rubbed her arm and looked to Ares. "What's your idea, Ares? Are you really here to help us or are you going to feed us to the sorceress?"

He mocked her with a sassy smile. "Cute, Gabrielle, real cute. Circe has no magic right now because her scepter is broken. No magic equals no human Xena. You get me?"

The two blondes looked at Xena and frowned sadly.

"What do we have to do?"

Ares grins, nodding his head. "Go to the River Styx in the underworld. Find Medusa's lair. She is good pals with Circe."

"Of course she is," Gabrielle mutters.

"Oh and, you have to take Damian with you. He knows the way."

She chortles and trailed over to the war god and his son hiding behind him. "You want us to take your son to the River Styx with us? And we have to go see Medusa? This sounds like a death trap, Ares!"

"I don't make the rules. You get a new scepter from Medusa and take it back to Circe then everything will return back to normal."

"As if I'm going to trust that witch with a scepter. Look what she did to Xena!"

He nodded. "I have eyes, Gabrielle." he gripped Damian's shoulders and presented him to the women. "Damian will be your guide. Best of luck to you and don't look into Medusa's eyes," he winked and stared over at Argo and shook his head. His disappeared and his laughter echoed in the skies.

Damian frowned up at Gabrielle and he folded his arms. "I don't like mortals."

"I gathered your mother doesn't like mortals either," she spat back.

"No, especially ones with big mouths like you!"

She gasped. "You're a little –"

"Gabrielle!" Argo interrupted and grabbed her arm. "Let's not upset the boy. He has powers."

"Hmm. Right…okay Damian, you're supposed to be our guide to the underworld. Do you know where to go? Are you _really_ going to help us?"

The boy smiled deviously. "What's in it for me? I don't care about your stupid friend."

Xena silently came around and bit the boy's leg and he yelped. Both Gabrielle and Argo stifled impending laughter.

"This is a bad idea. Making deals with Ares is _always_ a bad idea!" the bard slapped her forehead and Xena nodded her head, listening closely and silently.

"Looks like you girls don't really have a choice," said the boy while he rubbed his bitten leg. "So, what's it gonna be? I take you to see the gorgon or let your friend remain a wolf forever?"

Gabrielle crossed her arms, irritated by the boy already and their journey hadn't even begun. She didn't have time to deal with all of these interruptions. It was bad enough that Ambrosia had to come around and now this. She really felt like the gods were against her this week.

"Okay Damian, your mother doesn't have any magic. Don't you want to help your mother?" she played along with his little manipulative game.

His lips parted and he rubbed his chin. "You make a good point," he mused. "But I make all the rules! You girls have to do what I say all the time! You understand?" he pointed his finger in their faces.

Argo sighed. "This is going to be a very annoying trip."

"Watch your mouth, blondie," he warned her. "And you too. You have a big mouth," he said to Gabrielle and she widened her eyes. "Let's get a move on. Oh and tell your _friend_ not to bite me anymore or else I won't help you girls."

Gabrielle frowned down at her warrior companion. "You heard what he said. Behave yourself."

"This is a horrible idea!" Argo lamented and covered her face.

"Do you have a better idea?"

She shook her head and Damian snapped his fingers. "Are you gonna stand there or what? Come on! I don't have all day, ladies."

Argo and Gabrielle grumbled as they followed after the boy. Argo whispered, "What'll happen when we get the scepter? Should we give it to the witch?"

"In her dreams. I am not letting her touch that thing until we turn Xena back."

"But we don't know how to use it!"

Damian frowned and looked over his shoulder. "Stop whispering. You two walk too slow. We gotta get to the River Styx soon. Charon runs a tight schedule."

"_Tight_ _schedule_," Gabrielle mocked.

He halted and spun around, glaring at the bard. "What did I say about whispering? This is why you got trapped in my mother's cage. She should've turned you into a worm."

She gasped. "That's it!"

"Gabrielle, no!" Argo held her back and the boy half smiled. "Don't let him get to you. We have to do what he says." She advised and the fuming bard lowered her staff. "Show us the way, Damian."

"Excellent. Follow me." He waved his hand.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Gabrielle, Argo and Damian came to a calm river far from the village. The two blondes looked at the boy curiously and he smiled then turned around, looking up at both women.

"Well, ladies, this is where we go to Tartarus."

Argo raised an eyebrow. "You want us to go _in_ the river? Do you plan to drown us?"

He rolled his eyes. "We have to swim to the bottom of the river. That's how you get to the underworld. From there we meet Charon at the River Styx and he'll help us. I must warn you that he doesn't like escorting the living so let me do all the talking, got it?"

Gabrielle sighs and looked down at Xena who looked up to her with blue eyes surrounded by black fur. She had a horrible feeling about going to see Medusa but if it was going to help turn her warrior back into a human being then she'd do anything.

Damian eyed the canine and ferret. "Oh and one more thing," he smiles from ear to ear and added, "Your friends must stay behind. No animals are allowed in Tartarus."

"No way!" Argo spat. "You expect us to leave them here all by themselves?"

"Hey, these aren't my rules. Do you ladies want my help or not?"

The bard frowned at the little boy and if he didn't have such great powers gifted by his parents, she'd probably have thrown them in the river already. "We'll do what you say, Damian."

"But Gabrielle…" Argo pleaded.

"For whatever reason, you and I have something in common; to help Xena." She said and looked at Joxer. "And him too," she added and the ferret squeaked up at her whilst sitting atop of Xena's back. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind."

Damian nodded and stepped aside. "Ladies first."

* * *

Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, waited by his boat picking at his long rotting fingernails and saw guests approaching his boat. He grinned with his mismatched discolored teeth and both Gabrielle and Argo were horrified of the ferryman.

He tapped his long fingernails against the side of the boat. "Ah, Prince Damian," he made a disgusted face. "What do you want this time?" he spat in his raspy voice.

Damian folded his arms and looked back at the two blondes. "I got a thing to do for my mother."

"Ah," Charon smiles, "the witch Circe!" he cackles, "What a lovely woman she is. She brings many souls to me. What errand does she request?"

Argo leaned down to the bard, "who is this horrid man? He looks scary and it smells like death in here!"

"We are in Tartarus…" she whispered. "Just don't say anything and make sure not to fall out of the boat. Lost souls drag you down into the river."

Argo widened her brown eyes. "My gods, that is horrendous!"

"Uh huh."

Damian waved his hand at the women, "I'm here to escort these ladies to Medusa's lair."

Charon hissed, "_Medusa_…." He spat on the ground, "a horrible woman she is, Prince Damian. What possess you to go see the gorgon of Tartarus?"

"Like I said, something I need for my mother. Can you take us there or not?"

The ferryman grumbled and looked at the healthy blondes. "Are they from the land of the living?" he asks and Damian nodded. "Bah, mortals," he spat again and Gabrielle covered her mouth from the stench surrounding her.

"You know the rules, Prince Damian. I cannot escort mortals across the River Styx unless…you got something for me? A few extra tokens perhaps?" he wiggled his necrotic fingers.

"I'll pay you once I finish this errand," the boy said. "Trust me. I can give you more than tokens," he whispers in Charon's ear.

The ferryman nodded with an eager smile and climbed into his boat. "Come aboard, ladies!"

Argo hesitantly stepped in and Gabrielle followed. They sat down on the bench and stared at Damian who sat opposite of them. He kept smiling eerily and they felt nausea creep up on them the longer they stayed docked at the bed of the River Styx.

Charon pushed the boat into the water and rowed slowly. Argo leaned over and saw faces in the dark water and heard voices. She gasped and covered her ears, trying to block everything out.

"What have we gotten ourselves into?!"

Gabrielle pursed her mouth. "I keep asking myself the same question…"

Damian pulled out three cloths from his pocket and threw two of them to his guests. "You will need this to cover your eyes from the gorgon. One look at her face and you turn into stone!"

"I'm aware of the story," says Gabrielle snidely.

Argo held the cloth in her lap and looked over at the annoyed bard. "Gabrielle, will we really get the scepter from Medusa?"

"I'm not sure but we need to try."

"What if she doesn't give it to us?" she asks and Gabrielle groaned. "And what about _him_?" she whispered and nudged her head at Damian who was chatting it up with Charon.

"We'll see what happens. Right now, this is the only option we have. If we don't get the scepter from Medusa then we'll find another way."

Argo heaves deeply. "I hope so. I really don't want Xena to remain a wolf forever."

Gabrielle lowered her head and felt responsible for this entire disaster. If she hadn't gone into the cave with Joxer and left the woods in a fit of rage, this wouldn't have happened and she wouldn't be sitting in Charon's boat on the way to meet Medusa.

If she had been nicer to Ambrosia and listened to Xena then her best friend wouldn't have been turned into a beast at all. She looked over at the brown eyed blonde beside her.

Argo caught the side gaze of the bard and half smiled. Gabrielle looked into her doe eyes intensely and her long wavy blonde locks. She was the perfect woman, Gabrielle thought, of course Xena would like her. She looked almost as perfect as a goddess; her perfect hair, her perfect face, perfect body and serene attitude.

Gabrielle averted her gaze and sighed heavily. "I hope that Xena can forgive me for all that has happened."

"She will," Argo said confidently. "She always does."

The bard whipped her head around at the strange answer. "You don't know anything about mine and Xena's relationship. How can you say that?"

Argo realized she faltered again and she wrapped the cloth around her wrist nervously. "She has a forgiving heart. She's learned it…through her journeys…as a warlord," she adds.

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow skeptically. She nods and dismisses the subject. "You know a lot about her."

The tall blonde grinned. She knew Xena all too well and they'd been through several battles together. She'd been with Xena for many years before Gabrielle came into the picture. Argo had seen plenty of deaths and horrible things that her master had done over the years. She didn't want to admit that she didn't care for Gabrielle in the beginning but three years later, she began to understand her more. And if Xena liked her then that meant she had to as well. Now, she understood the bard better but she knew that Gabrielle would probably never enjoy her company.

"More than you know, Gabrielle."

The bard looked over at her questionably and knitted her brows, unsure of what that was supposed to mean. She sighs and leans her elbow on the rocking boat, trying to enjoy her scenery.

* * *

Ares made himself present near the river and spotted his favorite warrior basking in the sun while Joxer had his ferret head in the ground, digging furiously. He rolled his eyes and made his way over and Xena lifted her snout, snarling at the war god.

"Ah, come on, Xena. Aren't you glad to see me?" he teased with a chortle. She turned her head and gazed at the river. "Waiting for the bard huh?" he sat down on the grass beside her and she continued to ignore him.

"It's not as fun talking to you without your sarcastic comebacks and wit," he marveled.

She huffed through her nostrils and scooted along the grass, turning her back towards him.

He wrapped his arms around his knees and smirks. "Not fun when you are the one who needs saving, is it Xena?" he asks and she looked over her shoulder, glaring at him with icy canine eyes. "Still got that menacing stare though," he gave a charming grin. "You know it pains me to see you like this."

Xena emits a low growl and slowly gets up from the ground and walked on all fours to sit closer to the water. She sat down and continued glaring at the river, waiting patiently.

Ares walked over and rest his hand on her back and she whipped her head around and snapped at him. He quickly pulled his hand away and raised his eyebrows. "Hey, it's not my fault you're in this situation. You can blame Gabrielle for that and…oh what's her name? _Ambrosia_?" he chuckled. "I thought there was something odd about her when I met her," he began. "She looks familiar. You pick girls up wherever you go, Xena. You like charity cases."

If she could roll her eyes, she definitely would and if she could talk, she'd tell him to go away, but she couldn't.

"I know you must be missing Argo…" he hinted.

She spun around and snarled.

"Ah, yes. Your gorgeous blonde horse. Where could she have run off to? Oh wait, that's right. She's with Gabrielle."

Xena widened her eyes and the war god nodded.

"She's been right in front of you this entire time and you didn't even know it!" he laughed. "The work of Circe is something not to be messed with, Xena. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Pity about Argo, though." He sighed, feigning sympathy. "I wonder what will happen to her now?"

* * *

Charon stopped the boat at the edge of a dark cave. Gabrielle stepped out and helped Argo off the boat as well. Damian hopped out and gave the ferryman a high-five.

"We won't be long! Can you wait for us?" asked Damian.

Charon picked at his teeth. "Ah, anything for you, Prince Damian," he smiled and glared at the two blondes. "Bah, mortals," he mutters and spat in the river.

Argo cringed. "That man is disgusting."

"What do you expect?" Gabrielle said. She then walked over to the son of Ares. "Alright, we're here. Where is she?"

He waved his hand and walked ahead. "Follow me. You got your cloths, right?"

They held up the cloths and he nods then hurried to the gorgon's lair. Argo's eyes wandered around the dark cave and heard strange noises as they descended deeper and deeper. She didn't care for this place and wish she never came here but she had Xena on her mind. That was the only thing that kept her going for now.

There was a flickering light up ahead and Damian held up his hand. "Medusa!" he calls out.

Argo hid behind Gabrielle, although she was at least a foot taller than her, she felt so small. "Gabrielle…" she whispers, "I'm afraid."

"Don't be afraid," Gabrielle says with a half smile, a bit amused by Argo's fearfulness.

Some rustling was heard and then Damian put on his blindfold. "Put on the cloths, ladies. She is coming this way!"

He didn't have to repeat himself and they did as instructed. Medusa walked out from her lair and raised her eyebrow at the little boy and two women standing behind him. She folds her arms and stands incredibly close to Damian.

"The brat greets me again," she hisses and leans down towards his face. "What is it that your mother wants this time?"

"We're in need of your assistance, gorgon."

She walked over to the mortals and grinned. "And you've brought guests. Perhaps I shall feed them to the worms that eat away at my feet at night?" she steps close to Gabrielle and her serpent tongue slithers outward, an inch away from Gabrielle's face.

The bard contorts her face at the stench in front of her and tried not to make any sudden movements. She tried to remain composed but the smell from the gorgon's breath made her stomach churn.

"We…we need a scepter," she says while holding her breath. "Circe's scepter shattered. She…she can't do any magic."

Medusa grinned and her tongue slithered back into her mouth. "Is that so? The witch needs my help once again yet she has not visited me in centuries. Here, answer this riddle for me, mortals and maybe I can be of assistance…"

Damian groaned. "We don't have time for your games, gorgon!"

"You want my help or not, brat?!" she spat.

Argo wrapped her arm around Gabrielle and covered her mouth. "Gabrielle, what are we going to do? She's not going to help us!"

The bard sighed. "What is the riddle, Medusa?" she felt brave enough to answer as she was quite good at riddles and Greek stories. She'd studied them since she was a child.

The gorgon chuckled and stared at the confident petite blonde. "Answer my three riddles and I will aid you, mortals. Answer me this, '_it's so fragile even just saying its name can break it_.'" She bent down and hissed, "_What_ is it?"

Gabrielle rubbed her chin and muttered, "fragile…saying its name can break it," she repeated the riddle.

Argo felt the gorgon was near and bit her bottom lip. Medusa smirked and lay a hand on her shoulder. "Come now, don't be afraid, mortal but I should warn you, if you guess my riddles wrong, you will not leave Tartarus. Choose your answers wisely."

"Gabrielle!" Argo yelped and ran away from the gorgon. "We should leave this place! This was a bad idea! So bad! We should've never come here! We are going to be stuck here for an eternity!"

The bard ignored Argo's babbling and kept thinking of the riddle. She blurts out, "silence. The answer is silence."

The gorgon smiled. "Very good, mortal."

Argo's jaw dropped and she reached outward blindly. "Gabrielle that was amazing!" she walked over carefully and placed her hands on the bard's shoulders.

"Answer me this, '_feed me and I will live, but give me a drink and I will die'_. What am I?"

Gabrielle snorted. "That one's easy. Fire."

Medusa frowned. "You a very good at this game, mortal. I have but one last riddle for you. If you answer incorrectly you don't get what you want and must stay…_here_." She threatened.

"'_It can't be seen, can't be felt, can't be heard and can't be smelt. It lies behind stars and under hills, and empty holes it fills. It comes first and follows after, ends life and kills laughter.'" _

She walks close to Gabrielle and her tongue glides against her cheek. "What am I?" she whispers in a deep unsettling voice.

Gabrielle stepped backward and bumped into Argo. She grunted and sighed heavily. "Lies behind stars…under hills, what in the world is it?" she muttered.

"Your time is ticking, mortal. Choose your answer wisely."

Gabrielle felt sweat dripping down her back. "A…shadow?"

Medusa's laugh echoed in the cave. "So close, mortal!" she cackled loudly.

"No, wait, it's the dark! It's darkness! Empty holes, ends life and kills laughter. Darkness!"

"You only get _one_ answer!" she wrapped her cold hand around the bard's neck. "You lose!"

Damian slapped his forehead. "Great! This is just great! This is why I don't work with mortals."

Argo put a hand over her chest. "This is awful! Gabrielle! We're going to be stuck here in this horrible place! Gods, what are we going to do now?"

Medusa walked off away from her lair. "Have fun in Tartarus. The mortal realm awaits me."

Gabrielle gasped. "What?!" she spun around blindly and reached forward, trying to find the gorgon. "That is not what you said! You didn't say anything about that!"

"Never trust a gorgon, mortal."

Damian folded his arms. "Nice going, blondie. Now you've released the gorgon from her lair. If you would've guessed correctly then we wouldn't be in this mess!"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Medusa rose from the river and not an inch of her was drenched. Ares, still by the riverside with Xena, saw her emerge and she had changed her hideous form from a gorgon to a woman but her façade could not fool him. He stood up and Xena lifted her snout to him. He walked around the bend and folded his arms as he watched the gorgon walk freely on mortal grounds.

The war god dipped his head downward and placed a hand over Xena's eyes.

"Do not lay your eyes on her. That's Medusa." He warned her and received a snap to his hand. He snarled and rubbed his bitten hand.

"Hey, I warned you. No need to bite me. Still got that fire I see," he wiggled his eyebrows and she attempted to bite his leg and he grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and lifted her off the ground.

"Don't even, Xena. Stay here. I will see how the gorgon escaped Tartarus. She's got zero luck and that must mean she fooled the bard and your…_horse_," he chuckled.

He gently placed her back on the grass and followed the gorgon through the thick woods, trying to go unnoticed. Athena appeared before him in the middle of the path and he rolled his eyes. His sister folded her arms and he looked over her head and could no longer get a clear sight of the gorgon.

"Move, Athena!"

He shoved her out of the way and she grabbed him by the arm and flung him into a tree. She drew her weapon and held it against his throat. Ares put up his hands as he knew that any weapon of the goddess of wisdom could harm a god.

"Enough of these foolish games, Ares. Why haven't you convinced Circe to turn my warriors back?"

He smiled nervously. "Put the sword down, Athena. We can talk peacefully."

"I am done with peace!" she growled. "You've had more than enough time to talk to the witch and yet here you are, wandering around in the woods."

"I have something to take care of which involves Circe so if you would step aside…" he suggests.

Athena smirked and pushed the blade against his immortal flesh. "Any weapon forged by Hephaestus can kill a god. Perhaps you will be the first god to be slain by your own flesh and blood?"

"You wouldn't do that."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Dear sister, listen to me. I will fix your warriors. I want nothing more than to continue warring with you but first I have to talk to Circe. I have unfinished business with her."

"I'll _bet_ you do." she retracted her sword. "Word is that you put Aphrodite in charge of babysitting your brat. That is just like you to pawn off your spawn to someone else."

He nodded and his mind was more focused on the living and breathing gorgon on mortal soil than listening to his sister.

"We can talk about my parenting choices later. I will meet with you again. Don't come near Circe."

She cackled. "Why? Is she afraid that I will kill her?"

He waved his hand and ran off to follow Medusa.

"I just _might_, Ares!"

* * *

Gabrielle paced around outside of the gorgon's lair, thinking of how to get everyone out of this place. There was no way she wanted to spend an eternity in Tartarus. She kept going over all the horrible scenarios that she and Xena had gone through together to see if any of those outcomes could help them.

Argo sat on the cold ground, sulking. She twirled the cloth around her finger and sighed dramatically. Damian on the other hand was playing with Medusa's candlesticks and other strange things he found in there that made noises. Argo didn't want to know what lies in the gorgon's lair. There were probably creatures in there that Medusa kept for several reasons.

"We should've never come here," Argo said aloud.

"We're going to get out of here. We can't stay in Tartarus. For one, we're not even dead!" the bard snuffed.

Damian ran out of the lair in a chipper mood. "Hello ladies," he says charmingly. "I'm going to check on Charon to see if he's going to wait for us. I'll come back later."

Gabrielle nodded and was dying to get rid of the boy ever since they were roped into taking him along. She sat down on the ground after pacing for what seemed like an eternity. She was really beginning to hate that word and wished it never existed.

"I can't believe that she didn't let me give my second answer. I was right the second time. A shadow is close to darkness, right?" she asks the tall blonde.

Argo leaned back and fell off the rock she was sitting on and bumped her head against a wall. "Ow…" she whispered and rubbed the back of her head.

Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "This is hopeless."

"Aweh, don't be so down, Gabrielle. You always find a way out of these kinds of things!" she says cheerfully.

The bard frowned. "There you go again."

Argo's cheeks reddened and she put a hand over her mouth.

"You talk about Xena as if you've known her your entire life. And you make comments about my relationship with her. Who are you working for? Are you one of Ares' spies? Have you been working with him this whole time? You didn't seem the least bit phased when you met face to face with him. Who are you _really_?" she questioned.

Argo's eyes widened at the twenty questions that were thrown at her.

"Ares is the last person I'd work for and I'm not working for anybody. I just want to help Xena."

"Yeah, sure you do. This is partially your fault anyway."

Argo scoffed. "You're going to blame _me_? You should look in the mirror!" she stood up and the bard followed shortly after. They two stared at each other, one being a foot taller than the other.

Gabrielle was tempted to whack the lithe blonde but refrained and exhaled deeply. She turned around to face the wall and crossed her arms.

"We shouldn't be arguing with each other. That won't solve anything. Why is Damian taking so long?"

"He hasn't been gone _that_ long," Argo said and sat back down. "Do…you…have a plan?"

"Unfortunately, no I don't. Xena must be wondering where we are."

* * *

Charon picked at her long fingernails waiting in his boat. He saw a hand crawl up the side of the boat and he whacked it with his oar. He lifted his head and Damian approached. He grinned and teetered across the rocky boat to greet the boy.

"Ah, Prince Damian. You've come back from the gorgon's lair. Did you find what you were looking for?"

The boy leaned against the boat nonchalantly. "Yeah and I got those tokens you were asking for." He reached into his pocket and threw him a bag of oddities he found in the gorgon's lair to gift to the River Styx boatman.

"My mother will give you more once we reach the mortal realm."

Charon peeked in the bag and grinned with a nod of his head. He tucked the bag into a side pocket of his tattered robes. "What of your mortals? Will they not be joining us?"

Damian hopped into the boat and tossed the cloth into the river. "They won't be leaving any time soon. Let's get a move on, Charon! I have to see my mother."

"Yes, yes…right away Prince Damian." He hobbled over and grabbed the oar to begin rowing across the river of souls.

* * *

Medusa arrived in the witch's cave hidden away from the public eye. She walked by a few cages filled with large beasts such as cats, wolves and even some snakes. She tapped one of the cages and a large black puma snarled at her from behind.

Circe came out from the darkness and laughed. "Well, look who it is, the gorgon herself. It's about time."

"Word is that you need a new scepter. Did you really have to send your son to do your work for you?"

"You know I can't step into both worlds at once." The sorceress stepped forward and wiggled her fingers. "Give me a scepter so I can finish what I've started."

Medusa cackled and leaned against the cave's wall. "Circe, you and I have unfinished business. You left me in Tartarus for five hundred years while you prance around with these mortals," she emits disgust. "Where's the war god anyhow? You left me for an Olympian. I despise them and yet you procreated with one of them. Who knows who else you'll let stick themselves inside you?" she teased.

"I don't have time for this idle chatter, gorgon. Give me my scepter!" she screamed in a way that a child would.

Medusa rolled her eyes and looked around the desolate cave and shrugged her shoulders at her friend.

"How am I supposed to conjure another scepter without any supplies? Do you think I can whip anything up with a few words?"

Circe huffed. "I don't care what you need to do. I will get your supplies just tell me what you need and I'll see it done."

Damian waltzed in and ran to his mother. He wrapped his arms around her legs and she smiled. Circe knelt down and brushed a bony finger off his shoulder and grimaced.

"I did everything you said, mother. The mortals are trapped in Tartarus. By the way, Charon is asking for his tokens."

Circe waved her hands. "He will get his reward."

Damian turned to the gorgon who was not a hideous monster any longer. He was able to look into her eyes but he could always look in the eye, void of cloth, due to his Olympian blood running through his veins. He walked up to the gorgon and sized her up.

"You could've slit their throats but you played a riddle game instead. Pity."

Medusa's lip curled into a snarl. "Mind your place, boy."

Loud clapping echoed throughout the cave and Ares sauntered in with a bit of swag with every step. He smiled at the sorceress and gorgon.

"Brilliant plan, Circe. I continue to underestimate you. You're the lowest of lows. Not even I would stoop to your level. Using your son to free the gorgon and trap Gabrielle and…the _other_ one…in Tartarus," he awkwardly said.

She shrugged a shoulder. "It was nothing. You should see me when I'm at full power, Ares."

"Uh huh. Listen, Circe." He side stepped the gorgon. "Athena threatened to kill me. Turn her warriors back into humans and we'll call it a day. Oh and turn Xena back too."

Circe laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around her aching stomach. The war god creased his brows together at her mockery.

"Your obsession with that mortal is downright sick, Ares! You think I care about Xena and her friends? She just got in my way. I'm going to turn all the men in every single village into my slaves and there's nothing you can do about it."

He marched towards her and wrapped his hand around her throat. "If Hades finds out you've released Medusa from the underworld there will be severe consequences for you, Circe. Do not toy with Olympians. You've been spared several times. This may be your last hurrah."

She smiled whilst in agonizing pain and croaked, "I –I…need my…scepter."

He released her and threw her against the wall. Damian frowned and ran to his mother then shot his father a menacing glare.

"Look how pathetic you are –relying on others to get your work done." He sighed. "You're always manipulating others to get what you want."

She rubbed her throat and stood up unsteadily. "It seemed to work on you."

He was tempted to choke her to death and then saw Damian hiding behind her. He clenched his fist and backed away. He pointed a finger at her from afar.

"Reverse the spell, Circe, or you will go to trial on Olympus."

* * *

Gabrielle and Argo walked over to the River Styx and gaped at the missing boat. Gabrielle punched a stalactite and then cursed under her breath for doing such a stupid act. She kissed her sore knuckles and Argo gazed at the black river.

"Oh that's just great! The little worm left us and went with that horrendous boatman!"

Gabrielle wagged her hand back and forth.

"Are you really surprised?" she muttered to Argo. "I was too focused on coming up with a plan. I shouldn't have let him out of my sight."

"This is all Ares' fault! He sent his devil son with us because he knew we'd get trapped down here!"

The bard gawked at the tall blonde. "I don't think Ares would do that. He's done a lot of things but this is not his style at all."

"Well you can't expect _him_ to bail us out of here, can you?"

Gabrielle walked back to the gorgon's lair. "He wants Xena turned back into her human form as much as we do. That's all I know. The rest is Circe's fault. This was a trap from the beginning but…I don't know if Ares knew about it…" she mumbles to herself.

"You know, I don't know that Xena could get us out of this mess if she were here anyway. We're going to be trapped here forever. Mortals in Tartarus! That is just unheard of! Right, Gabrielle?"

Gabrielle stopped in her tracks and saw two shadows approaching them. She blocked out the loud chatter behind her and slowly backed up and bumped into Argo, startling her and ceasing her blabbering mouth.

"What is it? What?"

Gabrielle pointed to the wiggling shadows that resembled serpents coming close to them. She immediately put on her blindfold and instructed Argo to do the same. Argo struggled and saw the shadows coming closer and closer so she hurried to cover her eyes.

The two waited in silence and could smell the stench getting closer. Gabrielle put a hand over her mouth and her heart raced. Never had she ever felt as afraid as she did right now. She couldn't see and tried not to smell but her ears did not deceive her, which was the most troublesome in this situation.

Two gorgon monsters walked to the blondes and smiled. The two circled around in tandem.

"Euryale, mortals we have found," one of the gorgons said with her serpent tongue.

"Yes, Stheno. On Tartarus ground."

Argo clung to the bard's shoulders and put her up front and Gabrielle grimaced while she held her breath. She felt a serpent wrap around her neck and told herself inwardly not to squeal.

"Our sister has left presents for us," Stheno hisses.

"And keep them, we must," the sister responded in rhyme.

The gorgon sisters wrapped their long brass talons around the mortals' shoulders and Argo gasped at the cold touch.

"Gabrielle, we're about to be snake bait!" she panicked.

The gorgons cackled and wrapped their serpent hair around Argo's face.

"They have a most foul smell," Stheno said to her sister.

"One that we will quell."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The gorgons shackled Gabrielle and Argo to the walls inside their cave. Their legs dangled like prey and their arms were stretched along the wall. They looked like prey waiting to be devoured. Gabrielle kicked her legs, attempting to free herself, although she found that too difficult since she was blindfolded.

Argo heaved deeply as adrenaline pumped throughout her body. She kept hearing the bard next to her huffing, puffing and grunting. The shackles jingled as Gabrielle kept squirming.

One of the gorgon sisters poked the squirming blonde with a large stick and Gabrielle yelped loudly. She twisted her body in several directions as she kept being poked. This was all a game to them. She yelped again and then swung her leg upward and whacked the gorgon in the jaw. At least she thought it was the jaw.

Stheno snarled. She slithered up to the small blonde bard and stuck her tongue out and surveyed the entirety of Gabrielle's face.

Gabrielle gagged and curled her lips, refusing to open her mouth. The stench alone was enough to keep her mouth closed. The wet serpent tongue on her skin made her feel like she was lower than low at the moment.

"It's been awhile since we've had mortals in our lair," Stheno hissed.

Euryale snickered in the background. "Especially ones with such golden hair."

"That of a mare."

Gabrielle's lip quivered. "You can't keep us in here!"

Stheno grabbed the bard's face with her golden claw-like hands and pinched her cheeks together. Gabrielle inhaled sharply and leaned her head against the stone wall, desperately trying to get away from the gorgon.

"Who are you to tell us what to do? You don't _belong_ here. It is but your own doing that you ended up in our sister's lair, mortal!" she spat.

She backed away and Gabrielle exhaled deeply after holding her breath for quite some time.

Argo turned with her blindfolded eyes and frowned sadly. "Gabrielle, there's something I should tell you. I know we probably aren't going to get out of here alive. This is my fault."

"Got that right," the bard muttered.

"It's your fault too!" she spat. "But anyway that's not what I wanted to say." She paused. "My name isn't Ambrosia and I'm not who you think I am."

Gabrielle scrunched her nose up and whipped her head to the left and narrowed her eyebrows.

"I always knew there was something up with you! You're definitely a spy. Maybe this was your idea to get us trapped down here all along!"

"Gabrielle!" the tall yelled. "I…I…my name is Argo."

The bard burst into a fit of laughter.

"Yeah, right. If your name is Argo then my name is Cleopatra."

"I'm serious! I don't know what happened and I don't know how to explain it but…I'm Argo –Xena's horse…Argo. _That_ Argo," she admitted quietly.

Gabrielle's jaw dropped and she recollected all of the strange things Argo talked about during their time spent together. It made sense now but somehow it didn't. The things she said were only things that someone in Xena's personal life would know. And that bit of teasing Gabrielle received was all too familiar except now there was a face to it.

Of course, that was it, but how?

"You…you're Argo?" she asked in disbelief.

"I know you don't believe me, Gabrielle and that's okay but I just wanted to let you know. I think Ares knows who I really am. I should've said something earlier but I wanted to spend time with Xena and you too, of course."

The bard arched an eyebrow. "Always an afterthought I guess."

Argo chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I like you Gabby, but I've been with Xena longer. She's my best friend! Like I told you, she's important to me. I never lied about that."

"Wow," Gabrielle scoffed. "I was jealous of a _horse_," she whispered.

"You were jealous of _me_?" Argo beamed with glee and grinned from ear to ear.

"No…"

"Ah come on Gabby! You can say it. You're jealous of me! You've always been jealous of me and I knew that from beginning. Remember that time I pushed you in the mud?"

Gabrielle gasped. "That was you?! I thought I tripped over my staff!"

"No, that was definitely me. But I still like you, Gabby. You're important to Xena so you're important to me too."

Gabrielle sighed and wiggled her arms which were now starting to become numb from being hung up for so long.

"Well, thanks I guess. How did this happen? This is all Circe's fault."

Stheno slithered up to the talkative blondes and poked them in their midsections.

"Stop chattering!"

* * *

Ares tracked his son throughout the village, disguised under the mortal eye. He walked through people like a mere ghost and Damian was oblivious. He didn't know if he was disgusted that Circe was making their son do all her work for her or that the boy actually enjoyed doing it.

Damian stopped by a flowerbed near a shop and picked a few petals off the stems. Ares approached him from behind and grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him behind a nearby shack. The prince of war started to squeal and Ares wrapped a hand around his mouth.

"Do. Not. Scream," he whispered. "Nobody can see me anyway."

The boy looked up at his father and clutched the petals in his palm.

"Your mother told you to gather supplies for the gorgon, is that right?"

Damian nodded his head.

"You know what's going to happen to your mother, don't you?" Ares said seriously and the boy's eyes widen in fear. "She's going back to Tartarus where she belongs. You and I both know that she isn't allowed in the mortal realm, Damian."

The prince slapped his father's hand away and wiped his mouth. "My mother will stay here! Once she has her scepter back not even you can stop her!"

The war god grinned and shoved the boy against the shack and firmly gripped his shoulders. Damian gasped and dropped the flower petals on the ground. He stared into the god's dark eyes and breathed heavily.

"How 'bout you and I make a deal together? You don't _really_ want to stay in Hades' underworld do you?" he coaxed his mouthy son. "He doesn't let you see your mother and after he finds out about _this_, he definitely won't allow you to see her!"

He added, "Help your mother get her scepter and instead of staying in the underworld, you can come live with me. You'll have access to Olympus and the mortal world. How does that sound?"

"But…will I get to see my mother?" the prince asked in a sad voice.

Ares' eyes darkened and his lip quivered. "With my permission, Damian. You know it's the right thing to do…" he whispered. "Your choice, kid." He gently slapped his son's arm and stood up. "Make sure you make the _right_ choice."

* * *

Circe paced inside of her cave while Medusa kept watching her walk from one end of the cave to the other. She rolled her eyes and let out a loaded sigh, grabbing the witch's attention.

"I'm looking forward to spending another five hundred years with you in Tartarus," the gorgon teased.

"I am not going back there."

"Let's face it, Circe. You're going back to Tartarus. There is no way that the Olympians are going to allow you to stay here! You've tried this before and it didn't work."

Circe huffed and crossed her arms. Leaning against the cave's wall she sneered at the gorgon. "It worked for a little while," she whined. "Where is that child? He is taking too long!"

"No patience."

Athena appeared in the cave and the witch scattered and hid behind a cage with a lion locked inside. The war goddess grimaced and shot a glare towards the humanistic gorgon before her and then pointed her sword at the cowering sorceress.

"Circe! Stop hiding like the coward that you are!"

Medusa scoffed. "What did I tell you, witch? The Olympians are already coming for you."

"Shut up, Medusa. You don't belong here either and you will be spent back to Tartarus indefinitely," the goddess snapped. "Circe, turn my warriors back!"

She scanned the entirety of the cave and raised an eyebrow.

"And all of these mortals –turn them back too! I don't know what Ares sees in you. You can't possibly have any value to him except you are immortal but you could always spend the rest of your immortality in _pieces_."

She marched over to the lion cage and Circe squealed then ran to hide behind the gorgon.

"Wait, wait!" Circe pleaded. "I –I am waiting on Damian to return with some supplies. I need a new scepter and then I will turn your warriors back. I promise."

"I don't believe you, witch. You play a dangerous game toying with my warriors. My brother told me not to kill you but I didn't promise that I wouldn't."

Ares walked into the cave with Damian by his side. He saw his sister inducing fear into Circe, although not much fear emit from the gorgon. He marched over and stood in between his infuriated sister and Circe.

"Athena, what do you think you're doing? I told you not to come near her!"

"Stop protecting her, brother. She's caused enough damage."

He groaned. "We still need her to reverse the spell. After she does that then I don't care what you do with her." he smiled and Circe's jaw dropped in shock.

He retreated towards the exit and peered down at Damian.

"Where are you going now?" Athena shouted.

"I have to pay a visit to Hades. You can watch her for me. Make sure everything goes according to plan."

* * *

Sweat dripped down Argo's forehead and she sniffed the air within the damp cave. She heard Gabrielle doing the same and exhaling rapidly several times. She twisted her sore wrists in the shackles and rolled her dangling ankles.

"Is it just me or is it hot in here?"

Gabrielle nodded. "It's not just you."

Stheno slithered over and yanked the blindfold off the short blonde's head. Gabrielle kept her eyes shut tightly.

"Keep your eyes closed!"

Argo frowned. "What?"

"Do as I say!"

"Well okay but –"

Her blindfold was ripped off as well and she gasped but kept her eyes sealed shut. The gorgon cackled and grazed Argo's soft cheek with her bronzed talon fingernails. "Such smart mortals you both are. You know the tales of the gorgon stare."

Argo panicked. "Gabby, what if they're going to cook us and eat us?"

"Don't be ridiculous. And stop calling me Gabby! That's not my name!"

"Aweh come on. I thought we were friends? You'll always be my Gabby."

The bard groaned.

Stheno pinched Argo's arm and she yelped. "You two talk too much. Euryale, hand me the poker."

"As you wish, sister."

"_Poker_?" Gabrielle uttered.

The gorgon was handed the hot iron poker that had been sitting in a pile of hot coals. She made her way over and held the poker very close to the bard's leg. Gabrielle bit her tongue and tried to slide against the wall to avoid the poker. She could feel the heat not far from her flesh.

"I told you they were going to cook us!" Argo shouted. "I don't want to die!"

"Gorgons!" Hades roared. He stood in the entrance of the gorgon lair with Ares beside him. The two gods stared at the mortal women chained to the wall.

The sisters hissed and slithered behind a wall to hide from the underworld deity. Hades shook his head, obviously annoyed with the two gorgons. He had enormous problems with the three serpent sisters and they caused him grief constantly in Tartarus.

"Your sister left the underworld without my permission with the help of Circe. Instead of telling me, you decide to torture mortals for your own fun?" he said. "Stop hiding from me!"

Stheno came out from behind the wall and tapped her talon fingers against her arm. "Hades…" she hissed, "so good of you to stop by. We weren't going to kill the mortals of course."

Eurayle hid behind her sister and grinned at the war god. "Ares, what a pleasure to see you in our neck of the underworld."

Gabrielle's lip curled. "Ares!"

He snickered. "Keep your skirt on, Gabrielle. I'm here to help you."

Ares walked over and laughed at the bard dangling from the shackles and he turned to Argo who had a huge frown on her face. He snapped his fingers and the two fell to the floor, released from their shackled chains on the walls.

Hades approached the nervous gorgons and he jabbed his scepter at them. They cowered in fear and he ushered them out of the lair. The sisters backed away slowly while hissing at him.

"To the River Styx you go, gorgons. I don't have more time to waste on you two. I have Circe and Medusa to deal with later. Go!" he shouted.

Gabrielle finally opened her eyes. On all fours, she lifted her head up at the war god who had a smug smile on his face. She stood up and brushed her skirt and fixed her bodice.

"Ares. What are you doing here? Where is Xena? Did you do anything to her?"

"Relax," he hushed her. "I don't even get a thank you? I came to Tartarus just to save you and…Xena's _horse_," he snorted.

Argo stood up clumsily and folded her arms, turning her cheek from him.

"You don't just _save_ people, Ares." The bard poked his chest. "You want something."

He leaned down and met her furious green eyes. "Let's just say you owe me. You have a life debt with me. When you need help, I'll be there. I'm always here after all."

"As if I'd ask for your help."

"Oh you will, you _will_."

* * *

Medusa sat on the ground in the cave and mixed all of the ingredients together with a mortar and pestle. Athena stood off to the side and cautiously watched the gorgon. She was disgusted by the satisfactory look on Circe's face.

"How much longer?" the goddess inquired.

"Not much longer…" Medusa said. "I could work better if I didn't have someone standing over me."

"Just finish whatever it is you're doing, gorgon. Your time spent here is coming to a close."

Moments later the gorgon poured the mixture onto the ground and began molding the clay with her hands. Circe clamped her hands together and eagerly watched Medusa form a long clay scepter on the floor. Once finished, Circe pushed the gorgon out of the way and dropped to her knees.

She held her hands over the clay scepter and closed her eyes. She recited a few words under her breath and a bright light illuminated the entire cave. Damian shielded his eyes and peeked through his fingers and saw the two mortal women he left behind in Tartarus entering the cave with his father.

He stood up and Ares glared in his direction. He backed away and circled around his mother and ran towards the war god.

Argo frowned at the boy. "You! You're the little worm who left us!"

She began to charge at him and Gabrielle wrapped her arms around Argo's waist. Damian hid behind Ares fearfully.

The incantation was complete and Circe held her new scepter in her hands. She stood up and her smile faded at the sight of Ares. She immediately saw her son standing beside him. She tried to approach them until Athena rammed her against the wall and held a sword to her throat.

"Reverse the spell now, witch."

"And if I don't?" the sorceress teased playfully.

"I'll slice you into several pieces!" Athena growled.

"Fine, fine!" Circe relented. "Well, let go of me!"

The goddess stepped back but kept her sword close just in case. Circe waved her hand over her head and whispered beneath her breath. Argo held her breath and put her hands over her eyes. Gabrielle looked up at her with a gaped mouth.

After the reversal spell was spoken allegedly, Argo lowered her hands from her eyes and then looked down at her human body. She smiled softly and turned to Gabrielle who didn't look so happy. Her cheeks flushed and she frowned at the witch.

Ares stared at all the animals in the cages and a very human Argo beside him. "Circe, what is going on? Why isn't everyone back to normal?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Reversing a spell takes time. It is much easier to cast a spell than to reverse it."

"This better not be one of your tricks."

"Ares, you don't believe me? I'm shocked," she said flatly. Her arm was grabbed by the goddess and she gasped. "Unhand me!"

Athena growled, "Will my warriors turn back to normal? If they won't I will come to Tartarus myself and –"

"Slice me into little pieces. Yes I got it already," she sighed. "Every spell is different. One must have patience, Athena."

Damian eyed his mother and clung to his father's leg from behind. Circe grinned and extended her hand and he took a step backward.

"Damian? What's wrong? Aren't you coming with me?"

Athena yanked the witch's arm and pulled her along out of the cave gradually.

"Damian!" she yelled and yelled again several times until her voice vanished when she left with Athena.

Ares grinned. "Wise choice, Damian."

* * *

That evening Gabrielle and Argo found Xena and Joxer waiting by the river. They made a small campfire together and Argo had just come back from collecting lumber for the fire. She carried the tree branches and set them down beside the fire.

Gabrielle kept staring at the fire and didn't even notice Argo speaking to her. Lifting her head she smiled briefly and the tall blonde took a seat beside her. Argo crossed her legs and looked to her right at Xena sleeping on the ground curled in a ball with her nose tucked into her tail.

"I've always liked camping," said Argo, trying to break the tension. "I enjoy sitting by the fire with you and Xena."

The bard broke a piece of the thin tree branch and tossed it into the fire.

"What…what do you think Ares meant by you owing him? He is full of threats. You shouldn't trust him, Gabby."

She grumbled. "My name is….forget it."

Argo smiled and nudged the bard's arm. "I'm not so bad to be around! Are you still jealous of me? We can share Xena."

"I am not jealous of you."

"That's not what you said in Tartarus."

"I'm not jealous."

"You said you were."

"Okay!" Gabrielle shouted. "I was jealous of you," she finally admits aloud. "I just didn't like how close you were with Xena. You were a stranger –I mean I thought you were. It's not like Xena wasn't responsive towards you. I got into a fight with her because of you," she quickly reminded.

Argo blushed and awkwardly shifted on the grass. She exhaled and rested her elbows on her knees, gazing at the fire.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "Hey since we're here I'd like to apologize for all the things I've done to you over the last couple of years!"

Gabrielle paused. "Oh, you don't have to –"

"I'm sorry for pushing you in the mud, but it was funny you must admit. Also I'm sorry for throwing you off my saddle that one time. Oh and that time I spat water in your face. And –"

"Please!" she spat hoarsely. "No more. I forgive you okay? I forgive you."

Argo beamed. "Thanks Gabb…" she started to say and saw the frown forming on the bard's face. "Gabrielle," she corrected. "I promise I won't tease you anymore or play any tricks on you."

Gabrielle smirked and waved a stick in her hand. "I don't know if I should believe you."

"I promise!"

The two shook hands and then sat in silence for awhile.

Argo leaned over and Gabrielle looked at her from the corner of her eye. "Do you really believe things will go back to normal? Did Circe really reverse the spell?"

"I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see."

The lanky blonde sighed. "I'm going to miss being a human," she mused. "I like talking to people. Everyone can finally understand me!"

Gabrielle nods. "Xena understands you and you've never spoken a word to her."

Argo lay down on the grass and gazed up at the starry sky. "You're right. She does understand me and hopefully _you_ understand me better now too."

"Gabrielle?"

"Yes?"

"Can I still call you Gabby?"

The bard laughed lightly and took a long pause.

"No."


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you all for reading this cute short story. I hope you all enjoyed it! Here's the last chapter ;)**

**Medusa's riddle was borrowed from the **_**lovely**_** Gollum in Lord of The Rings.**

Chapter 9

Xena stirred in her sleep and then jolted awake, frantically scraping her arms and legs. She was grateful that her arms were no longer furry legs that belonged to a canine. Her eyes glanced over at Joxer who was lying in the grass in a fetal position. Whether he was a human or not seemed not to matter. He definitely looked like a ferret, she thought.

She turns, ruffling her hair, and caught her bard sleeping with Argo's head next to hers. She hated to disturb the two although she couldn't wait to have a very interesting conversation with Gabrielle. The warrior stretched her arm outward and playfully slapped the bard's thigh.

Gabrielle yelped and sprung up, grass in hair and bodice. Breathing heavily, she eyed Xena and grumbled. It took a moment for her to realize that her dear friend had been turned back to normal.

"Xena!" she leapt forward and hugged the warrior. They fell back against the grass and Gabrielle peered down at her with a big juicy smile. She kissed her forehead several times to which Xena rebelled and revolted against the kisses smothering her.

"Stop it!" the warrior refutes. "Get off!"

The bard rolled off and picked the grass out of her bodice. "You're actually here! I was so worried that you wouldn't turn back to your normal self! You're really here!"

She wrapped her arms around Xena again and squealed.

Xena sighed. "Alright, Gabrielle, alright. You can stop now." She paddled the bard's hand. "Okay!"

"Sorry." She pulls away with a beaming face. "I'm just happy that you're back."

"Mhm. Me too."

Her eyes linger to Argo who was still sleeping. Her lips curl into a smirk. "Now I understand why you were so jealous of…what was her name? Oh right, _Ambrosia_," she cackles.

The embarrassment of being jealous of a horse was enough to ruin Gabrielle's mood. She crosses her arms, imitating that of a frustrated and disgruntled child. It wasn't that she was jealous of a horse, she was just jealous of Xena's relationship –no she was _definitely_ jealous of a horse.

"Argo and I…we…I…" she paused at the warrior's complacent grin. "Let's just say we have a better understanding of each other."

"Uh huh," remarked Xena. "Are you going to tell me what happened in Tartarus?"

The bard laughs awkwardly. "I'd rather not go into that." She picked the remaining grass out of her hair. "But you know what was strange? Ares helped us. I didn't expect him to do that."

"He probably wants something from you just to get under my skin. Am I right?"

Gabrielle shrugs a shoulder. "He says that I owe him. Do you think he'll forget about that?"

"Gabrielle. He's _Ares_. When has he ever forgotten _anything_ that has to do with _me_?" she stares incredulously. "He never does anything out of the kindness of his heart."

She adjusts her armor and caressed Argo's mane and forehead. With the simple touch the horse awoke and nudged her companion's arm and chest. Xena was all smiles and kissed the top of Argo's head. All this time she thought Argo was missing or had run off but she was here the entire time right under her _nose_.

"Was Gabrielle mean to you? You can tell me the truth," she whispered.

The blonde gasps. "Excuse me!"

"Kidding! I was kidding!" Xena chides with a snort. She leans close to Argo's ear. "See? She has a short temper. I trust you were nice to her."

Gabrielle rolled her eyes while listening to the conversation. It looked like it didn't matter if Argo was a woman or a horse. Xena was always more susceptible to believe an animal before anyone else. She fidgeted quietly and looked over at Argo nuzzling her snout in Xena's hair.

The warrior smiled over at her friend. "Gabrielle, you're always there for me when I need you the most. Nobody is going to come in between us and change that." She grasps hands with her. "Not Ares, not Argo."

A sigh escaped Gabrielle's lips. "She told me she really cares about you."

"And I really care about _you_." Xena squeezed the bard's hand.

They shared a warm smile.

Joxer yawned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He whipped his body around and giddily stumbled over to the two women in his life. He embraced them into a tight bear hug and they groaned.

"Xena! You're back! No longer a dog, huh?!"

"Joxer!" Gabrielle snarled and punched him in the chest and he fell backward.

"What's the matter, Gabby? Aren't you happy things are back to normal?" he says and adjusted his helmet clumsily.

She grimaced and stood up with the help of Xena's lending hand. "Yes Joxer…I'm very pleased that you aren't a rodent anymore." On that note she heard Xena snicker.

Xena stood and fixed the saddle atop of Argo. "We need to get to that cave where Circe had all those caged men. If I'm turned back then those men are probably no longer furry beasts."

Joxer skipped ahead and blocked their paths. He put up his hands and Gabrielle was ready to whack him with her staff at any second.

"Wait, wait! Isn't that where the witch lady is?" he breathes heavily, nearly keeling over in fear.

Xena rests a hand on her hip and arched an eyebrow. "She's gone. Can we get a move on?" she brushed by him.

He ran and grabbed her shoulder to which she glared in his direction. "Heh," he cringed and stepped away. "How do you know she's gone? Did you see her? Xena, she's a bad, and I mean really bad, lady." He scoffs.

"Ares took her away. You won't be seeing her for a long, long time." Xena slapped his cheek several times and walked ahead, holding Argo's reins.

"Ares!" he yelps. "Xena! Are you actually going to trust him? Xena? What about you, Gabby?"

The bard whacked the annoying wannabe warrior's shin with her staff. He hissed and hopped around, holding onto his injured leg.

Gabrielle chuckled. "You coming, Joxer?" she called out from up ahead.

* * *

Once all of the men were retrieved from the cave, they brought them back to the village. All of the women and children who had missed their fathers, brothers and uncles had been reunited. Gabrielle assisted the men to make sure they were guided safely back to their families.

The magistrate, Clyde, smiled at Xena and gawked at all of the men gathered around the center of the village square.

"You found them in a cave, you said?" he asks.

"It's a long story. Have you ever heard of a sorceress named Circe?" she stares at the confused man. "I didn't think so."

He rubbed his chin in question. "I still don't understand why all the men wandered off in the middle of the night. A sorceress," he snorts at the idea. "I'll have you know none of these fine men would ever participate in cult-like activity, Xena."

She raises her eyebrows and tries her best not to give a dramatic eye roll at the comment. There were many things these common villagers didn't know outside of their little bubble. She hated to be the one to burst that said bubble.

"I can assure you that they weren't _willing_ participants," she calmly explained.

That did nothing but confuse the magistrate even more. He sighs deeply. "Anyhow, I thank you for all your help, Xena. Allow me to gift you payment for your good deeds."

She held up a hand. "That won't be necessary. I wasn't the only one helping and I didn't do all of the work."

"Oh," he falters, "your friends will be rewarded as well," he emits a warm smile.

Xena cringed at the man trying to give her money. She refused with a simple thank you. "I don't want your money or your praise. Bringing these men home is enough for me. I just hope you don't have any more sorceresses visit your village," she pokes fun at the disgruntled magistrate.

Clyde wags his head and saunters away, muttering to himself. "Sorceresses…" he grunts.

Gabrielle made her way over and noted the magistrate descending into his home. She didn't bother to ask why Xena had such a snarky grin on her face. She leaned up against the warrior with the staff nestled against her chest.

She looked behind her at Argo and briefly smiled at the blonde horse.

"I don't know about you but I'm ready to leave this place."

Xena nods. "I'm with you on that one." She eyes Joxer trying to chat with a few of the men. "What are we going to do about _him_?"

The bard shakes her head shamefully. "We could…leave him here? Maybe he'll be the village idiot! Look, he's already telling tales about Circe and her beasts. They don't believe him either!"

"Gabrielle, that's not very nice. I didn't know you had such a mean streak in you. First, you get jealous of Argo and then say horrible things about her and now you're taunting Joxer?"

"Hey! You're not always nice to him either! And what's the big idea? I was stuck in Tartarus with your horse; you have no idea what we talked about."

Xena taps a finger on her cheek. "Let me take a wild guess. Me?"

"And among other…things," the blonde professes. "But mostly you," she groans. "Don't start developing an ego now, Xena." She punched the warrior's arm.

"I'm not the one who was jealous of a horse but hey, whatever." She grabs Argo's reins and waltzed away.

"I wasn't _that_ jealous!"

* * *

In the bowels of Tartarus, Circe and Medusa were hung by their ankles, upside down. Circe sighed heavily as she watched the fire looming underneath them. She grew bored of remaining here in this damned place especially with the gorgon who was recently, quite a chatterbox.

"So nice to have you here with me again," says Medusa.

"I'd rather be dead."

The gorgon cackled. "Not in this century, sweetie."

The witch crossed her arms and refused to look at the serpent beside her. "How long do you think Hades is going to leave us here?" she wonders aloud.

"Couple hundred years, give or take."

Circe releases a low growl. "Great. Is there any way I can be alone during this infernal punishment?"

Medusa playfully nabs the sorceress' arm. "You don't like spending time with me, Circe? We are the best of friends after all. I wouldn't want to spend an eternity in these chains with anyone else but _you_." she chuckles. "This is your fault."

"It is not!"

"Oh, I believe it is."

Circe rolls her eyes. "Where are those nematodes? Shouldn't they be picking at your rotting flesh by now?"

"No need for the attitude."

"Shut up."


End file.
